


December

by JDBeckett



Series: 365 Prompts [12]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-03-22 09:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 43,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3724162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JDBeckett/pseuds/JDBeckett





	1. Prancing Ponies

There were horses and ponies everywhere. Some prancing, some standing still. Not a single one of them was looking at her and for some strange reason, the thought comforted her. Some of the animals were black, some had strange red spots and others strange blue ones. For a moment she wondered if this wasn't supposed to be a sign but she ignored it. Zora wasn't sure at all about what she was doing right where she was. She wasn't even sure as to where she was to begin with.

Something beeped in the distance. She started walking in that general direction, trying to find out just whatever that beeping thing was but the closer she thought she was getting and the louder the beeping got, the more lost she felt. There was nothing left around her now, just vast plains, a few hills and a whole lot of red, blue and black flowers. There were some purple and lavender ones but they were a slight distance off from the others, as if they were not to mingle at all. She frowned, reaching out for a prettily blue flower and as she tried to curl her fingers around it, it vanished.

  


She slammed her hand against the alarm clock. It went quiet.

Zora rubbed her eyes, trying to focus on the blurry numbers that were flashing at her in that ugly green colour of theirs. Five thirty. Too early for her, this wasn't her alarm, it was Niall's. She couldn't understand why he seemed to not want his own alarm clock, he could set it on his bedside table, at least there would be that less of an issue to deal with. She wasn't due to get up for another hour and a half at least and this was just one of those things.

She loved him, she really did but there were just some of his habits that made things crumble a little more every day. She knew he was verbally abusive, it just didn't really work with her, she could dish it as well as he did, he'd tried it over the first few weeks and it had badly backfired, they'd had a pretty bad fight but they'd made up. The make up sex was pretty great, really, then again the sex as a whole was pretty great.

Closing her eyes, Zora tried to think back on the strange dream she'd been having. The red, blue and black everywhere was pretty significative, now that she was awake. She did miss her brothers but there was no way in hell she would reach out to them first. They had decided to not come with her. It had been their decision to stay with that group of lunatics. They were old enough to take care of themselves and they knew her number if they did ever want to get in touch with her. She wasn't at fault here, if that moron Eoghan hadn't gotten in her way, they would be in this apartment with her and Niall, they'd probably be working a better job than at the lame library with the lame Armin and they'd be happier in general, she just knew it.

"You awake, babe?" She looked to the foot of the bed, shrugging her shoulders a moment.

"Your alarm woke me. I still don't get why you don't want us to get you your own alarm clock. I didn't need to be up for another hour and a half at least and I know I won't get any sleep again any time soon."

He shrugged and she rolled her eyes. "Y'could come and make me some breakfast."

"You never eat breakfast here, Niall. You're always rushing out because you're late. Which I don't really get since you don't need to get to work until seven. Your partner keeps on dropping by every few days because it seems as though he was supposed to pick you up and you're already gone." Her tone was quietly amused, it was an interesting sort of situation though she took plenty advantage of it. The sex really was great and she felt no remorse for it. "How about I make it up for having woken you up then, mm?"

How could she refuse?

  


She waved him off as he drove out of his parking spot and left for work. It was Jed's day, she knew, he'd come by in half an hour or so and she could have herself another reason to appreciate having been woken up.

Zora looked out the window, leaning against it gently. The sky was dark, heavy with clouds. For a few moments she wondered as to how her brothers were doing but she pushed the thought away without much of a struggle. She didn't want to think about them, even if her dreams made it seem as though she was supposed to. This would be their first Christmas apart, not that they'd ever celebrated before. She couldn't afford anything and most certainly didn't want to. She'd given them the gifts she could manage on their birthdays, it had been enough.

When Jed's car pulled up into Niall's parking spot, she chuckled and shook her head. Right on time. At times she wondered why she didn't spend more time with Jed instead of Niall. The man treated her better than her boyfriend did. Perhaps it was for that whole issue that they were partner and she didn't want to cause any friction between them. 

But honestly, who was she kidding? She already slept with both of them and Jed at least wasn't the type who'd abuse her in any way. He was too sweet. At least that was what she'd learned from him during all the time they spent together. He even made sure she had utterly enjoyed herself, not something Niall much worried about during their sexual encounters.

She knew Jed had stopped coming around to pick Niall up months ago. At first Niall had gone with him but soon enough he'd started taking his car to head to work, leaving her to take the bus though it was how she usually made her way to work. Jed tended to offer her rides after they'd had their moments.

As he came up the steps and knocked on the door, she moved away from the window and went to let him in, a soft chuckle escaping her as he stepped inside, closed the door and swept her off her feet, swinging her carefully about, as if they were lovers finally reunited.

"I think we have something very important to discuss, Jed, something that might just change both of our lives though I don't know how safe it will be for me." 

He set her down then, a frown to his lips as she led him to their usual spot. She had no issues with making use of that bed thoroughly as she needed, even with Jed. She sat on the edge and he settled next to her. The difference between the two men were so drastic that she wasn't even sure what had pulled her to Niall in the beginning.

"I think I'm ready to take us to the next level. We both know I'm not happy here, this isn't the kind of life I need and he keeps on trying to make me miserable." This wasn't new, they'd had this discussion before and Jed had offered to house her in his home for a while, until she got her feet back under her or until she decided that maybe they could be more than just a fling.

His face lit up though he knew it wasn't really that good a thing to be happy about. The woman he wanted was finally opening him the door. At least in a way she was opening him the door.

"How do you want to work this out?" It was cruel to break someone's heart before Christmas, as it was right around the bend but she knew he didn't quite love her the way she knew she'd loved him at some point.

"I don't have a lot of things. I could just pack it all up. If you have any time at all this morning we could drop my stuff off tonight and after work you could come and pick me up from work? I'll leave him a note, tell him I needed some space, of course I won't tell him where I've gone off to, if you want to tell him you can but I don't really think that should be necessary."

The man only nodded, his eyes were bright and happy. He knew he'd been more or less used just for the sex for those few months but there always had been hoped in him, always.


	2. A Yellow Cloth

"That thing is absolutely ugly, Cy." Agni looked at the yellow cloth his friend was holding out. He wasn't even sure what it was supposed to be, else than it looked like someone had taken a lemon and used it to create that particular thing, it was very, very ugly.

Cyrille laughed softly, his head shaken though he offered his slighter friend a mock-evil looking grin. "Well, Agni, you're out of luck because that's what your gift is being wrapped up in this year."

"If that's what you're wrapping my gift in this year, I'm not opening it and you can't make me open it. That is absolutely ew."

"You're such a child, Agni. I swear." Mira rolled his eyes, moving to stand next to Cyrille as he looked the swatch that was being held up. "I think it's a nice colour. It would actually look pretty nice in your room."

Agni stared, he blinked, looking between his brother and his friend. "You two are completely nuts!"

"And you're still dead set on believing yellow is a bad colour because of that book you've read. You really should read the whole series, it's just four books in all, it's honestly quite good."

"Wait, what? You've read your way through all of those books? When have you had time to even do that?" Cyrille blinked at his friend, startled at the news. Those books weren't overly long but it still would have taken a couple of days at the very least to read through them all and that at a pretty fast pace.

"Well once I got done with what I was making for my Christmas gifts, I started reading. They're really interesting books, sure, yellow could be associated with evil but I don't think it should be like that. You can't judge a colour from just reading a single book, Agni."

"I won't but that one particular colour still looks really bad." He mumbled, turning his back to look at something else that more than likely didn't even have his attention.

With Agni's back turned, Cyrille flipped the swatches over, showing on in particular, a deep, metallic sort of red. Mira looked it over for a moment and nodded, it was perfect, really.

"Oh hey, by the way, I was thinking that I was due doing my hair for Christmas, I was thinking green and red, of course, in alternating stripes or something. What do you guys think?" He'd gotten into the habit of asking them what they thought of the colours he wanted to set into his hair. He still dyed it every so often and the pale platinum tresses took to the colours surprisingly well so he tried to get away with a lot.

"Just no yellow!"

"Well, blond is basically a sort of yellow and my hair is naturally blond, though it's so pale it looks almost white in some light, so really, your request s invalid." Cyrille laughed at Agni's indignant huff, the teen having turned back around after a few moments of his mock-sulking.

"Any colour you pick will look good, Cyrille." Mira's words were softer and there was a bit of a blush to his cheeks. Cyrille chuckled softly but didn't tease his somewhat younger friend. It was adorably sweet that Mira seemed to think such good thoughts of him, after all.

"Red and green it'll be. Yellow isn't Christmasy as a colour as it though I could ask my hairdresser to dye my tips that really pale blue I used last winter, it was frosty really, it came out pretty cool. I'm supposed to meet up with him in a couple of hours, we could all go together and he can marvel at how perfectly even your hair is split down the middle."

  


"Your friends are absolutely perfect, you have to tell me how they manage their hair, I've never seen a separation done so perfectly well between two colours!"

"Secret of the trade, Andy, how about Christmas this time? Some red, some green, maybe a bit of frost blue like last year mingled with it at and along the tips?" Cyrille usually did most of his brighter colours himself but at times, when he wanted something a little more out there, as it was, he preferred seeing Fernando, the man knew his way around dyes and he could manage some amazing styles if given just a little bit of time and patience.

"We'll be here for a while, guys, you might want to either just plug up into your players or read some." Cyrille was half-watching Mira as the teen looked at dangling earrings on the walls. Most of them were long, obviously feminine in nature but some were somewhat shorter. Mira was rubbing his earlobe between his fingers gently, the motion, Cyrille assumed, was more than likely not even noticed by the teen. He recalled them discussing piercing a few months back, before he'd started living with he had figured it had been a passing thought more than anything else. Perhaps it hadn't been.

He made note to stop by his favourite tattoo artist, he had a worker who did piercing as well as the inked art and he trusted them with that kind of thing. He'd see what they might have to say. He knew the teens weren't eighteen yet but it couldn't hurt to ask and they were mature enough to decide if they wanted to try it or not. He figured if it didn't work out, the holes would heal up quickly enough.

  


"This is absolutely fantastic, Andy, it's perfect." Cyrille was staring at his reflection in the mirror and his mirror's reflection in the hand-held mirror his hairdresser was holding out behind his head so he could see the results. It really was perfect. Streaks of red and green, a few streaks of blue so light it did look like frost, he loved it.

"It was my pleasure as always, Cyrille. We don't see you enough, you're a joy to work with. The offer for you to be one of our stars when we need folks to sit on the stages with us during the hair shows still stands, you know."

"I'll think about it, Andy. For now I need to go and see Dan about some earrings."

"You getting more piercing?"

"No, I think I know someone here who might be interested in finally discovering the world of piercing." He laughed and bid the waving man goodbye as he walked his two friends out of that one store and into the mall itself. It was one of the only reasons he ever came to the place as a whole, Andy and Dan. Two stores in the mall that he appreciated spending time in.

"Mira, I think we're going to get your ears pierced. I noticed you looking at the earrings on the wall and I recall you two talking about it this summer. I thought you'd both just forgotten about the idea altogether but I think I might just have been wrong. Want to give it a try too, Agni? The worst that can happen is you guys don't like it so you just take the earrings out and that's it."

Mira was staring a little wide-eyed, uncertain though he went with. Getting his ears pierced had crossed his mind a lot in the summer though he'd mostly forgotten about it until he'd seen the earrings on the display at the hairdresser's place.

"Piercing!"

"Just the ears today, Agni. Anything else and you'll have to ask Eoghan since he's essentially your legal guardian and you're not of age yet for that kind of thing."

"Boo. I can live with that but that just sucks. I want to get my tongue done and my eyebrow and-"

"I'm sure that after Christmas, if you still want those, we can ask Eoghan about it and he might even take us here himself." Mira's words were softly thoughtful. Cyrille knew he wasn't making a mistake with this simple thing. These two healed quickly enough that he wasn't really afraid about how things would turn out. Earrings were simple enough and taking them out to let the holes close if it doesn't work out was just as easy.

"Let's go see Dan."


	3. time to __________

The sky had been clouded over and there had been a few fat flakes falling when they had all gathered up on that top floor, each with presents for others and everything being set under the large tree that nearly brushed the ceiling. They had moved their weekly meal and movie up to the middle of the week to fit with the day. Christmas Eve. 

They had all gathered, staring at the large and simply decorated tree in Lex and Eoghan's living room. The floor around it covered in gifts of all sizes, some small and others much larger. They all had decided that it had been a perfect time for celebration. There had been food from all over the world, this one particular evening with a theme of 'cook or bake something from where you were born'. The table had overflowed with food of all sorts and colour, the leftovers had been split into separate little containers so that everyone could have a bit of everything that was left to bring home.

As the evening had progressed, they had settled about the tree, Mira having volunteered himself to hand out gifts. He'd pick one up, read its tag and hand it off to whoever it was meant to go. He made sure to keep his blanket for his brother for last as he didn't know if he'd be able to keep on giving out the gifts once he'd handed his brother his own.

People had been happy, there had been cheering, some alcohol and a lot of wrapping paper scattered everywhere. It had been a beautiful eve, especially for those who hadn't had a Christmas Eve to celebrate before or for those who hadn't had one to celebrate for a while now.

It had been rather late in the evening, almost early in the morning when all parties had started to head back to their own place. The only ones who stayed were Quentin and Yael, the pair not much caring for the idea of getting dressed back up and lugging everything back to their own building. The cats were going to be fine, they knew. They had had their food before the pair had left and the litter boxes had been cleaned completely and utterly.

  


The sky was blue, so absolutely blue. It hadn't been that blue in almost a week at this point and they had had more snow in that past week than they'd had since snow had started falling. Yael was gazing out the window at the clearness of the sky. A soft sigh escaped him. In his hands, a warm cup of steaming tea and Quentin at his side, also gazing out with a pleased sort of smile.

"Once we're done with this we'll let you guys have some quiet time. I'm glad we helped you two pick everything up though, this place was a mess." He laughed softly, still warming his fingers with his cup of tea. There had been more wrapping paper than he'd ever seen in his life, it had been an interesting sort of thing to just pick it all up. Fold what hadn't ripped and put away everything else. They'd thrown most of the ripped bits into the fireplace, it had seemed the best and easiest of options.

"You two could stay but I know you'd want to check in on your little four-legged gang. If you need any help with the gifts though, I don't mind heading out with you two."

Quentin looked at their little pale of gifts. An armful and a half for sure but it was so beautiful and calm outside he was rather certain that it wouldn't be much of a problem to head back across. He shook his head. "That's kind of you but I think we should be able to manage fine."

Eoghan nodded, leaving them to their sky-gazing. He recalled doing that much when he'd been on his own before, even when Lex had been with him. He loved just staring at the sky when it was clear and blue enough for him to see nothing but that when he gazed outside.

  


In another apartment, tangled together on the floor in front of the fireplace, the three youngest souls of their little group stirred, just barely. It had been the second time in their lives that the twin had had alcohol, Mira had handled the taste of it as poorly as with wine though it had been a bubbly of sorts this time.

The fire, long since out, had warmed them when they'd first come back inside, arms full of gifts. They'd helped Armin back down to his own apartment first and then had come back up to their own. They had built up a fire to warm the area up first and things simply had gone from there, so exhausted from their gathering, the food and the bit of alcohol, they all had eventually drifted off, Agni's new blanket settled across the lot of them.

Cyrille was the first one to open his eyes. He stared at the ceiling above him blankly as he tried to recall much from the night before. With a bit of thinking he recalled the food, the bit of alcohol, all of the gifts. Once that was clearer in his mind, he became aware of the weight settled on him and he lifted his head just so. There, on one side, Agni clinging to one of Cyrille's arm as if he was protecting it. On the other side, Mira was nestled closer, his head against a shoulder and one leg tangled. It warmed Cyrille and he breathed a soft sigh of content.

He was more than a little aware that this was likely to not happen overly often but it was nice to know that they did trust him enough to sleep this way with him. It was comforting in ways he couldn't recall having ever felt before. He closed his eyes again, relishing in the warmth he felt, not just from the closeness of their bodies but from the comfort of knowing he was trusted.

  


Armin was looking at the gifts settled along the low table of his living room. It had been years since he had seen gifts at all and he wasn't exactly sure of what he was meant to do with them, at least in a general sort of way. He knew what he would do with the crocheted scarf, he knew what he'd do with a new blender. The idea of fresh smoothies every morning made his mouth water just a little.

He felt a tightness in his chest, a desire to cry and he tried to squash it down. He knew those tears were good tears but he didn't really want to cry at this point, even for a good reason. It felt so strange to be around people who cared this way about him, at times he tried to forget but it still was usually there, in his face.

These people considered him their friend, they saw him as someone they could trust, someone they wanted in their lives and someone worth giving gifts too.

He reached out, fingers curling about the beautifully crocheted green scarf. He brushed his fingers over its softness and wrapped it about his neck a couple of times. It was so soft. He had another scarf that did its job perfectly well but it was a scarf he'd brought for himself. This one had been hand-made with love and- well he wanted to wear it and he was going to wear it.

Finally, he laughed softly, all this happiness as it bubbled up inside of him burst up and out. He laughed. He laughed until he cried, those tears of happiness soaking their way into the scarf he refused to take off. He'd hang it to dry it, that was aside the point. He felt absolutely cherished and he had forgotten what it had felt like for the longest of times.


	4. No Remorse

As she looks through the house she now has been settling in for about a week and some days, Zora wonders briefly about the changes that have settled in her life over the short period of time. She no longer wakes up at five thirty in the morning, despite sharing her bed with Jed. There no longer is yelling though there hadn't been any of that for a short while but there had been plenty of it when she'd first moved in with Niall.

She doesn't have to clean the whole house by herself, doesn't have to prepare every meal on her own without fail, she has days where cuddling seems to be the best thing that could ever happen to her. She feels no remorse for having eased out of Niall's life so close to the holidays.

Two days following her little escape, Jed sat down with her, telling her about how things were going at work and how Niall was doing. It was the only time they ever discussed it. It had been his one rule and she had no issues whatsoever about it. 'We don't discuss him unless it's work related'. There never had been any discussions about work before, this wasn't going to change.

Sitting down in the spacious living room, she briefly wonders how she ever managed to live with him without wanting to tear his head off every other day. It makes no sense in her mind but she knows it simply was in the way he acted, in those little words he murmured. He had a good, strong hold over her and that just was it. If Jed hadn't eventually come along as he had, she still would have been with Niall.

Briefly she wonders about the wellbeing of he brothers but that too is out of her mind quickly enough. They are old enough to take care of themselves. She has no reason to worry or fret about their well being or about anything at all that concern them, in the long run. They have a roof over their heads, they have food and if for some reason they get in trouble, well it would be their own fault for wanting to stay where they were and not coming with her.

As she nestles a little deeper into the cushions of the couch, she closes her eyes and relaxes. Jed is still asleep. She sees no reason to waking him up since there is nowhere he has to go and there is absolutely no where she might want to go. She knows he works hard and that his very work is bound to be a little harder as of lately since he does still work with Niall and as it turned out, during their conversation, Jed had told her that the man had been a little pissed at finding the note and he'd been giving his partner the cold shoulder ever since.

"Maybe he'll ask for a partner change." She yawns softly, feeling almost ready to drift back to a comfortable doze. This feels so different. Dozing this way, just relaxing. Something that just couldn't happen back there.

"Ask for a partner change for what?" Jed's voice startles her out of her relaxed state, fear spiking briefly in her though she relaxes and manages a low, startled laugh. He murmurs an apology and settles at her side, taking her hand in his, simply brushing his thumbs over her palm. This is how he usually tells her that he's sorry, by trying to soothe her.

"You just startled me, I'm sure that before too long I'll be used to your coming and going, you're surprisingly light on your feet and I think I'm not used to that yet." She smiles at him, curling her fingers over his gently and he smiles back though he doesn't look too convinced. 

"I was just thinking that it can't be safe that he gives you the cold shoulder constantly. He's supposed to be your partner. I know we're not supposed to talk work but hear me out just right now and then we can go back to work to celebrate our new chance at life together a little more, yes?" He frowns briefly but he caves in, nodding, he's still rubbing his thumb against her palm.

"You're a cop, Jed. Your job can be downright dangerous in particular situations, I know that much and I'm not going to ignore it, that'd be stupid as hell. If he's giving you the cold shoulder, he's not focused on doing his job. What happens if you two get in a sticky situation and he's not paying attention? What happens if you get shot?" The worry suddenly gets a good hold of her and she freezes. She can't recall being this worried about Niall in this way ever in her time spent with him.

Jed smiles, bringing her palm up to his lips to kiss it. "I've been working with him for a little more than ten years, Zora. I'm not honestly worried about this. He always acts this way when he gets dumped because he's always the one getting dumped. It usually last a week or two, a month if the relationship really seemed to mean something to him but it passes. He's my friend, despite how he acts and how he treats other women and I know he looks out for my ass in bad situations."

Still filled with uncomfortable fear, Zora sighs and rubs her free hand over her eyes. "I trust you. I want to trust you to the end of the world but I can't trust him. I swear if something happens to you while he's this way, I'll have to do something. I don't know what but I'll do something."

"You're precious, Zora. Thank you for worrying about me." As he utters those words, Jed moves back to his feet before he moves back down to her, sweeps her off her feet but instead of keeping her to his arm, he drops her over his shoulders. She shrieks, just once, too startled by his sudden motions to do anything else. Moments later she laughs as he walks his way out of their living room and back to that bedroom. She had promised it, after all.

He settles her down gently, lovingly on the bed despite his shoulder treatment and she sticks her tongue out at him. "You're an absolute oaf, I swear."

"An oaf, me? I carried you gently and carefully, I have now deposited you lightly on the bed and here I was thinking of making sweet and tender love to you but if you think I'm an oaf, I suppose I'll just have to wander off and do oaf things."

"No, no wait!" she knows he's playing with her but playing along doesn't hurt. She wants nothing more than kindness and love with this man and she knows that she has to treat him in a way he deserves as he's treating her as she knows she deserve.

"I'm sorry, I take it back. You just know how I get when you do these kind of things, it's so sudden that I don't really know what to make of any of it."

He murmurs a slight apology, they both know they're somewhat at fault for this one mock-situation. She came out of a bad relationship and he knows it, he has no intention of being rough with her but some actions are customary with him and he knows they'll work out a way to make things work.

"Cuddle?"

"Cuddle sounds perfect, after that and once my heartbeat is back to normal, you can take me to places unknown as much as you like." She chuckles softly as he eases to her side, pulling her against him. She nestles, closing her eyes and marvelling at how right it all feels. There are no remorse whatsoever in her and she knows there never will be. 

"I'm thankful you've appeared into my life when you did, Jed. You have no idea how thankful."


	5. File Folder

"You know, I don't even remember when I got this one particular movie. I'm not even sure what it's about." Eoghan calls out from where he's been sitting in their movie room. Lex, in the process of bringing in a simple breakfast, shrugs lightly as he sets down one of their small, portable tables. More like a tray with long legs really but it does the job when he needs a steady surface to work on.

One the table the wooden tray keeping all of their food items safe from certain doom sits. Two bowls of cereal, two glasses of orange juice, toast, jam and a container of milk for their cereal. He doesn't like his food to be soggy and cereals would have been soggy by the time they got to it if he'd set the milk in already.

"Maybe it's one of my movies? I did bring in my own collection after we decided that we were going to stick together in a permanent way."

Eoghan looks up at him a moment, confusion on his face until understanding seems to dawn as Lex finally sits down next to him with a laugh. "You didn't think I had any movies of my own?"

"Well I guess it didn't really cross my mind, I'm so used to just having all of my movies out in a folder and then split out in separate little sub-folders to keep them set down in certain ways. When I got started, before all this computer stuff, I used to keep a list of every movie I had in a little file folder. I'd keep them in order of the dates I bought them since that file was typed up with a typewriter. Couldn't very well erase a line and add something in there then." He laughs and Lex chuckles again softly.

"I did bring my own collection along after I moved in, I think I probably transferred it into yours one of those days you were out of the house, which I suppose might explain why you didn't really know about it."

"That's sneaky."

"You love me being sneaky."

"On certain occasions, not on others." Eoghan grins, he knows that this is hardly an argument, it can't even be called that, they're just playfully bantering.

"Now, what exactly are we doing this morning?"

Eoghan reaches for one of the glasses of juice, sipping from it before he sets it down on one side of the tray so he can have better access to it. "I realized, when we last watched a movie, that some of them weren't where they were supposed to be. I guess some of the informational data might have gotten lost when I copied everything over into your external drive when the old movie drive was dying, so I'm going through the movie folders and pretty much just filling in missing information."

"And you think you know what that information is without looking it up online?"

Eoghan laughs softly and shakes his head. "I'm taking the easy way out of that one. I could just select the whole database and click on 'find info online' and whatnot but I don't know how long that might take and I know that I don't want certain of my movies to be fixed up that way so I'm just doing that for the ones I find that aren't where they belong."

"So you don't really need me?"

"I always need you, Lex, but I guess in this one situation, you might just get bored out of your wits watching me click from one movie to the next to check if their information are correct. I wouldn't hold it against you if you decided to do something else while I'm trying to get this done." He clicks through another movie, updates its information and clicks through the next. He knows it would just be simpler to update them all at once but there is just something about making sure some of his specially marked movies don't get thrown back in with the rest.

"I don't mind staying with you, you know that. Once we're done with breakfast, I'll go and spend some time with Adela and then, whenever you get done, we'll decide on what else we do with our day. It still is boxing day for most folks out there and spending time out of this place isn't all that appealing though a walk out in the crisp day might not be a bad idea."

  


Adela is more than happy to see him, then again she always is more than happy to see him. Lex knows he cannot begin to understand how snakes think or if she really is happy to see him though she always comes his way when he steps into her room and not to squeeze the daylights out of him.

He cares for her, feeds her, pets her for a while before he is back out of the over-warm room. He wraps a blanket out about his shoulders and locks the door properly. There always is a chill in the air when he steps out of her room though Eoghan is the one who thought to have the blanket ready.

Lex looks in on his companion for a few moments, takes note of the movie title and nods. "You're almost done?"

"Just an hour or so more and I'll be done, this is going by faster than I thought it would." Considering the size of his collection, that seems to be an understatement.

"While you do that, I'll look through what I still have left in my work room that shouldn't last the year, I might make a few different things and set them up online to be sold at certain prices. I don't want these beans to go bad." He doubts the roasted beans can go bad but he doesn't really want to chance it. It doesn't seem right to subject people to chocolate that could be of sub-par quality.

"All right, if you're not done before I am, I'll sit nice and quiet in the living room to wait for you."

Lex chuckles and disappears off to his own work room, knowing it won't take him much take to look through all he has left. Tomorrow he might decide to fill in a few moulds but otherwise, today, all he wants to make sure of, is that his working materials are still in good condition and still can be used.

  


"Remind me when it was the last time we've done this." Eoghan stuffs his hands in his pockets, wishing he'd actually taken his gloves with him when they'd gotten ready to step out. The air is fresh, there is a certain crispness to it. He loves it, really but his hands are not really appreciating him at that point. He knows that sticking them in his pocket should be enough for the time being.

"Too long ago. We were still stuck in the other apartment last year at this time and I don't much recall what the weather might have been like and before that, well." Lex shrug, a wry smile to his lips though he closes his eyes and tilts his head back up to the sky. He knows that fresh air this way is something he hasn't had in his life for some time. They live on the edges of their city, not quite in the country, the air is clearer.

"Let's never go back to waiting so long to spend time outside in this kind of weather. I admit my fingers are cold but that's my own fault, I should have taken my gloves before we stepped out, I just didn't expect it to be this cold for how beautifully clear the day is."

Lex chuckles softly and begins to walk. There are no pathways along their yards but it hasn't snowed so much that they cannot make their own. In places he knows they might just sink down to their knees but that is part of enjoying some time outside in the snow. "We should totally try to convince the twins and Cyrille to have a snow-fight. I think that'd be a pretty sweet learning experience."

Eoghan blinks at him but snickers. "I think you're right. Everyone really, though I don't know that Armin would join us, he could play referee."

"He could. Maybe when the air isn't quite so cold, though."


	6. Moving Away

It hadn't felt right. He hadn't really wanted to be away from the twins so soon after Christmas but Magali was family and she had wanted to talk to him and not on the phone. Talking on the phone wasn't really the way she'd wanted to talk to him about whatever was on her mind.

They had set a date and an hour, he'd said he'd drive out to the country to meet up with her and Joana though she'd then told him that Joana would be out for most of the morning and that had been that.

On the morning of the day after Christmas, he'd told the twins that he had to head out to talk to his sister. Agni had asked if they could come along and Mira simply had asked him to tell her he'd said hello. He couldn't take the twins with him, he knew. Magali had made it clear that this was one of those talks they had to have, just the two of them together. He promised Agni he'd come back with something for them.

Right as he had been preparing to step out of the house, Mira stepped up to him and handed him a little white crocheted rabbit. Cyrille stared at it a moment before he chuckled and kissed Mira's forehead. "I'm sure she'll love it. That is very sweet of you, thank you."

With that, he had been out the door and onto the mostly snow-cleared streets. At least in the city they were cleared of snow, he knew he'd had to be more carefully in the country though it certainly wasn't the first time he'd drive those roads in this weather.

  


After having managed his way on the roads without so much as a near accident, he knocked on the door to the slight house. He could see smoke coming from the chimney so he knew he hadn't driven all the way out to this place without any reason. When Magali opened the door, he breathed a sigh of relief and stepped inside, glad to be getting out of the chilly temperature.

The place hadn't changed much since he'd last seen it. It still had its rustic charms with the large fireplace, the old couches. There wasn't much technology that he could see and he figured it was just fine for his sister who hadn't cared much for technology.

"You can leave your boots and coat by the door, we'll settle by the fire. I'm glad you managed to come, I didn't really want us to discuss this on the phone." He did take off his coat and boots, leaving them where he had been standing before he stepped further inside. As he did, he finally noticed those little details he hadn't yet. There were boxes scattered everywhere and most smaller objects he recalled being out and about were gone.

"I almost forgot, Mira made something for you, he didn't want me to go without it." He held out the small rabbit, she looked at it a moment before curling her fingers around it with a soft note.

"This is precious, the blue and black haired boy, yes? The one who was so fascinated by my harp. Ah- yes, that's something else we'll have to discuss. Now come and sit." She moved away, sitting comfortably on one side of the couch in front of the crackling fire. He followed her, sitting next to her, a little uncertain of where all of this was going.

"I imagine you've noticed the boxes. We've had a long talk last night, Joana and me. We've decided, though she mostly decided and then worked on getting me to agree with her. She's moving further south, more than likely a little to the side too, we figured we'd head to Spain. It's warmer there and I need warm weather, despite the remission. I still feel a little worn on most days and the cold doesn't help. Now please just let me talk, I know this is likely to be very startling for you."

Startling was the least of it but Cyrille kept his mouth shut. He was going to lose his sister? Well not so much, he knew they would keep in touch, it just felt strange to imagine she might finally do something for herself. At that one particular thought, he warmed up to the idea and nodded slightly. 

"This house has already been sold, we've been looking at properties in Spain and we'll be flying over there in the next couple of days to visit a few places we've found online that look as though they'd be just perfect. We're packing up little by little. Once everything here will be all packed up, I'll be taking her back to the house with me so we can pack my own things up."

Cyrille only nodded, preferring to listen. This was good for Magali, even if she was moving away from him. It wasn't about him, he knew. It was about her and her health, it was all that mattered.

"I know I could just pack everything up. All my instruments, all my music sheets. I don't much play any of them anymore we both know this. Even the harp, I only really played last time because I knew you would love to hear me play. I don't really feel like music anymore. So either I sell the instruments, I leave them in the house or maybe you could take them. I'm sure we could set them in storage somewhere otherwise."

"I can take them. The harp might not get much use, Agni actually bought one for Mira for their birthday, you should have seen the look on his face, it was beautiful. We have room though, I have room, the bedroom I'm staying in, in their apartment, is huge, I could keep them in there until I decide what to do with them. Most of your instruments are old, they're expensive and I can imagine some people might really be interested in them. I can take care of that."

Magali nodded, moving to sit closer to her brother, a soft sigh escaping her. "Now understand one thing, Cyrille. I'm not doing this to get away from the family and I'm not doing this because I want to leave you behind."

"You don't need to explain anything, Mag. You need to think about yourself. I'm honestly really happy with the twins, I feel so good since I've moved in with them."

She reached out, brushing her hand over his cheek and he closed his eyes. It felt as though it had last been too long ago that they had shared simple touches this way. "I can tell it's been doing you some good. Your eyes were so dead before, you tried, I knew you tried so hard but I could tell how unhappy you were but now, now you look alive again. I love your hair too."

She laughed at those words and he grinned at her. She'd been the only one to really appreciate what he did with his hair, even Magali had looked at him as though he'd been crazy before she started doing the same.

"Just promise you'll keep in touch. I don't want you to just fall off of the face of the earth because you're moving away, Mag." It was the one thing that mattered most to him, he wanted nothing else, needed nothing else.

She chuckled softly and kissed his cheek. "Sweet, adorable Cyrille Atticus Finnegan. As if I'd abandon you in a million years. I wouldn't ever do that. I'll keep you updated on the house hunt and I'll even invite you and your friends to visit once we're all settled in comfortable."

Cyrille scrunched his nose somewhat at her use of his full name but he pushed it away, he knew it was just her way of teasing him. He blinked at the notion of visiting her once she was settled though. "I don't even know if they have passport. There's time yet."

He looked out the window a moment, frowning as he saw snow starting to come down. "I should probably start in on my way back, Mag. I don't want to be out here on these roads if it starts to snow."

"That sounds reasonable. You tell these boys to keep on treating you well, or else."

"Or else." He laughed but hugged her tightly, almost afraid this was the last he'd ever see of her. He couldn't help but worry.


	7. A Cave

He turns left, hits a dead end and turns back around to the fork. He turn turns right, walks along the hallway and comes to another fork. He groans in defeat and holds his flame up higher to try to see if he can find a way out. This labyrinth goes on forever so far and it isn't pleasant. He has no natural light to help him see where he seems to be going, the cave ceiling above him keeps him in darkness. He knows he would be in even more darkness if it wasn't for his gift.

Every time he approaches the labyrinth doors, he's sees no torches, he sees no source of light. He doesn't even bother with trying to walk around this huge obstacle to try to get around it, he's tried it once and it hasn't led him anywhere.

He looks back at the knock on his door, Mira peeking in somewhat. Agni pauses his game though he knows nothing will happen to him in there other than he's going to starve to death, again, and he turns to his sibling. "What is it?"

"I didn't mean to bother you." Agni shakes his head at his brother and offers him a soft sort of smile, he knows he deserves the uncertainty but there's nothing he can do about it else than give it a little more time still. 

"You're not a bother, that's fine, this game is starting to get repetitive, I can't find means to get out of the cave anyway so I'm just thinking I might set it down for a while and forget about it."

"It's almost lunch time, I was wondering if you wanted something to eat. Usually, it would have been Cyrille's turn to prepare to meal but you know. You think he's coming back?"

"Mira, he left everything here, he's just visiting his sister and he'll come back, don't worry so much. Come on, we'll go prepare ourselves something to eat together."

Mira smiles, it brightens up his whole face and Agni knows he's made the right decision. His game can wait. He knows his brother is worried, it is needless worrying but there is nothing he can do about that either. He knows Cyrille will come back to them, that he only went to see Magali after she asked him to. They are family after all and it only makes sense that he'd visit.

The thought brings a soft pang of pain to his chest as he thinks about Zora for a few moments. She stepped out of their lives almost completely, leaving them with nothing more than a number they could call though she had told them rather clearly that if was for emergencies and that she might even consider not answering them at all if they called. She blamed them for turning their back on her, in the end.

He shook it off, frowning at where his mind was heading. This was hardly one of those things he wanted to think about. It wasn't right. It didn't make sense. With a sigh, he eases out of his chair and joins his brother at the door. He slips his arm around Mira's waist and walks him to the kitchen where there is already a large pot on the fire, warming up slowly.

Agni chuckles as he looks into it and nods, broth. Soup for lunch seems like a wonderful idea, it certainly would warm them both up. "That was a great idea for lunch, Mira. There's plenty in there for three so we can set his portion aside and he can eat once he comes back. What are we adding to it today? Some noodles, a few veggies? Are we doing our version of it? A curry based soup could be nice, don't you think?"

  


When the front door eases open and clicks shut, a few hours later, Mira is the first one to head over. Agni has gone back to his game though his frustration has grown and by the time Cyrille steps inside, shaking some snow off his hair, Agni has saved his game and turned it off. He can't figure out the cave system and it makes the game less than pleasing in the long run. Games are supposed to be fun.

"Cyrille!" Mira nearly launches himself at his friend and Cyrille laughs as he catches the slighter teen, swinging him around once before setting him back down.

"You act as though I've been gone forever and you haven't seen me in years, that is absolutely adorable Mira." On cue, Mira blushes and ducks his head though he keeps his tongue to himself, despite how tempting it is to stick it out and have Cyrille 'teach' him how to 'use' that tongue. His cheeks burn deeper at his thought and he shrugs a little, sheepishly. 

"I'm sorry, I just was worried and you're the first friend we've had who wasn't family in some way and I was just afraid, we've kept you some soup!"

"You really are adorable and I'm sorry you guys worried about me. Magali and Joana just had a long talk and they'll be moving to Spain where it'll be warmer year-round and she wanted to tell me face to face. I don't blame her." Of course not. Agni steps up then, stretching with a wide yawn as though he'd spent the last few hours sleeping.

"Game still kicking your ass, Agni?"

"Something like that, welcome home." He steps closer too, hugging his friend before stepping back. Cyrille finally takes that time to get out of his coat and boots. He shakes the melting snow out of his hair with a soft laugh though he shivers as some of it drips down into his shirt and down his back.

"I'll go warm up your soup!" Mira wanders off and back to the kitchen, almost a bounce to his step. "He kept on worrying you weren't coming back, it was a little sad, to tell you the truth." Agni chuckles softly as Cyrille steps further inside and into the warmth of his home. His heart is in this place and this is home, he calls it nothing else.

"Well, Magali said she was going to keep me updated and once they were settled in, she might just see about inviting the three of us to visit her. I don't think you guys have passports though, we'll have to ask Eoghan about that if we want to visit her in Spain."

"I think that'd be pretty cool, visiting Spain that is. I'll let you have your little oh-my-god-he's-back reunion, I bet Mira stays latched to your side until tonight. I'm going to get a book and read instead." With a grin, Agni wanders off into his room, Cyrille chuckling softly as he watches the teen go.

"Were you really that worried that I wouldn't be coming back, Mira?" He steps into the kitchen, sitting at one of the stools set up at the counter. Mira, with his back to him, shrugs lightly, working the microwave to warm the soup up.

"You're the first friend I've had who wasn't family in some way, I mean sure, no one here is family but Eoghan took us in, Armin gave us a job, they all feel like family but you're different. You're my age and you could decide to leave, I guess they all could but I was just worried and I just, I can't help it." He finished with a mumble, a soft frown to his face. 

Cyrille shook his head and moved to round the counter so he could stand in front of his friend. "Mira, I'm not going anywhere, I promise. This place is home. Home is where the heart is and that's not going to change any time soon. Magali told me that she couldn't remember when I'd last looked this alive."

He settled his hands on the teen's cheeks and bent slightly, kissing those lips just lightly, softly. "This is where my heart is, you and your brother are the two most important people in my life right now and that's not going to change."

Mira, with a warmer blush still, closes his eyes but sighs, a sweet, content sort of sound. "Thank you."


	8. Taking Chances

Yael looks between the cats all sitting near or around him and then he looks at the door at the top of the stairs, leading to the garden. It has been weighing on his mind, he's been wondering if he should simply take the leap, chance everything and let the cats go up there with him when he's up and about.

Of course, he would keep a bag of catnip by the door to call them all back once he is ready to head back down. He just doesn't know why it has been on his mind at all since the new year. Perhaps for that new of a new resolution, something new to try to add to his life. It certainly wouldn't hurt anyone though he doesn't know how the cats might react.

He sits on the stairs, still looking down at the felines all mostly looking up to him as if waiting for him to give them something. He reaches for the container of cat treats and throws a few out, knowing the two oldest would go after them. Then he sets a few out here and there not far from him for the other five.

"The worst that can happen is that they decide to mark everywhere though that might very well just destroy a lot of the more fragile plants. I know they can all get down from high places on their own so they could climb up. What if they go for the cacti? The rose bushes?" He mumbles to himself, shaking his head with a sight as he does. This has been on his mind and he isn't sure what to make of it at this point, no matter how much time he spends thinking about it.

"No one is forcing you to let them up, Yael. If you're that worried about them being up there, it's more than likely because you're not ready. This is the garden, you work tirelessly to make it yours and make it work. It's beautiful and there really are no words to describe how I feel every time I go up there." Quentin's voice startles Yael out of his thoughts. Thankfully, at least so he tells himself, he'd already closed the treat container, else they would be everywhere.

"I just keep on telling myself that I should trust them, that I know they might just well be able to handle discovering the garden. I don't know." He almost throws his hands to the air in frustration but doesn't. He simply closes his eyes with a sigh and rubs a hand over them. He knows his confusion is from overthinking.

"What about, over the course of the week, we bring them in one by one? One cat per day, just for an hour or so to see how they handle it. Then next week we can pair them up, and by three, four and so on until we try one morning with all the cats together. We can stop at any point if one of them displays a behaviour that could be a problem for the garden and that's it, we'll have tried."

Yael studies him for a long moment, as if trying to weigh carefully everything he's just been told. He nods and stands, the cats easing slightly away from him to avoid being walked on. They had been quite close to the bottom of the stairs, after all. "That might work, I'm just, I don't know why I want to do this. I guess I want to be able to leave the doors open though I don't even understand why. It's not like these doors slow me down much when I go in and out of the garden."

Quentin shrugs gently but offers his hand. It still is early in the morning and his stomach is reminding him that he should eat. He can only imagine that Yael hasn't eaten yet.

"We were both pretty panicked when one of them went up there and got caught up in the tree, I'm sure that notion, the one to let them in and out as they wish, has been there, growing in the back of your mind ever still." He laughs softly at the moment and Yael chuckles as well. They had been so absolutely worried, he could remember that rather well. Now he could have a chuckle at it but most certainly not on that particular day.

"I'll draw up a calendar. Write down who goes up when until we've tried with everyone up, at least, that's the goal."

"That sounds like a plan, we can set it up just down at the bottom of the stairs and we can add little checkmarks to every day that has gone as it should."

  


It doesn't take him long to get that calendar drawn up. Names set out in alphabetical order for the first seven days and then paired up with first and last, second and second-last and so on until he had one last day where all seven cats would be allowed up in the garden. He really hopes that the whole thing will work out. He wants the cats to have free rein of everywhere in their home and that does include the garden, after all.

Once he's done, he pins the paper up on the wall right next to the stairs leading up to the second floor. He looks at it for a long moment and nods. Quentin looks at it from the side, studying it for a moment before he chuckles. "So no one today, we start tomorrow?"

"I don't know why, I felt as though I had to gather my courage one last time before we begin this experiment." He pauses and shakes his head with a soft chuckle. "Saying experiment makes me feel like I'm a scientist trying to create something evil that might just try to take over the world."

"Nope, just letting some very playful kitties learn their way around the most beautiful garden in the world, that's all. I know I don't tell you often enough how amazed I am at the beauty of what you've created up there and I know it's not right. You work when you're in there and I know I should help you more often."

"It's not so much about needing help, Quentin, it's about knowing you do enjoy the garden as I hope you do and that's mostly that. It's not that much hard work lately, just gathering the veggies and fruits and when it is time for that, you're always there to help me."

"I'd be failing at some point in my life if I didn't help you, Yael. When it's time for harvest, we usually come out of there with huge, overflowing basket and it's not a single person's job. I'm not going to let you do that alone." He rolls his eyes and chuckles, this whole experiment amuses him to a point.

"Come on, let's have ourselves a swim, you're tense from all this worrying and fussing and preparing. You're overthinking and that's just not good for either one of us. I want us to have an absolutely there relaxing day before we start with this whole thing."

"I always overthink everything I worry about, you know this." Yael shrugs, a sheepish smile offered as he moved away from the stairs and let himself be led back towards their bedroom so they both could change into the proper bathing suits.

He isn't against a swim. He knows it will get him to focus on other things and that might just be the best course of action at that point. He knows he needs to stop thinking about the 'what if' of things. "I'm a worrier, I guess. It's in my blood. Though I might try to fight against it. I think, though, that giving the cats a chance to explore the garden is just one of those things, it's a chance we'll have to take. If anything happens, I'll plant over again to cover anything that might have been destroyed."


	9. Ice Cream

"That bread really only has two ingredients?" Mira, sitting in front of Cyrille, watches his friend as he seems to mix in those very two ingredients. It baffles him, he didn't recall having ice cream in the freezer but there it had been, lost and lonely all on its own hidden behind a few other things.

"Yup, it needs ice cream and self-raising flour. You mix the two in until you get a good consistency and then you bake it. It's like a cake bread of sorts. I recall Magali preparing one for me when we were so much younger, I just watched her, my eyes wide as could be, not really wanting to believe it was possible. I even sat in front of the oven until it was all done to make sure she wasn't trying to trick me by replacing anything while I wasn't looking." He laughs at the moment, a content sigh escaping him as he finishes mixing up the ice cream and the flower. The consistency is indeed just fine at this point. He pours the contents of his bowl into the bread mould he'd prepared and sets it to the oven.

"I don't even remember buying ice cream."

"I don't either, that means you guys have had it for a while now and while I know that ice cream doesn't really go bad and it was delicious when I tasted it before dumping into the bread recipe, I figured it was about time to use it. Not a lot of folks eat ice cream in winter though it's good still. A little bit of a chilly dessert while sitting out in front of a good and warm fireplace."

He starts cleaning up the small mess he's made on the counter, knowing that the timer he set up would tell him when the bread was ready.

"Cyrille?"

"Yes Mira?"

"What are you guys doing?" Agni steps into the kitchen, cutting Mira off before the teen is able to ask whatever it was that is on his mind. Agni looks briefly to his brother, sticking his tongue out as he does before turning back to Cyrille. This is something he has done a few times over in the past days, cutting his brother off from asking whatever question seems to be on his mind.

"We're baking a bread." Mira answers, a little deadpan. He shakes his head but murmurs an apology as he slips from the bench and disappears off into his room. Cyrille watches him go and shakes his head.

"You need to stop cutting him off this way, Agni, honestly. It's like you're doing it on purpose."

"I am doing it on purpose." Agni shrugs, looking down at the oven for a few moments. "As I'm pretty sure I know what he might want to ask you and we, my brother and me, we've promised one another that we wouldn't even ask you that kind of question because it's not right."

Cyrille looks at him, staring really, as confusion settles and he shakes his head. "Well to answer your own question a little more clearly, we prepared bread with what was left of the ice cream."

"We had ice cream?"

"That you did, probably from last summer, it was still in pretty good condition when I got it out of the freezer."

"Ice cream in bread."

"Yes. Now scram before I decide to kick you for cutting your brother off this way. Whatever he wants to ask me, he will ask me, even if it goes against whatever discussion you two might have had on my subject about what is right or wrong to ask me." He shakes his head, not really mad, knowing he can't be mad at the twins at all. He is more than aware that this is something akin to rivalry. He doesn't really care for the idea that they might be fighting over him.

The thought actually amuses him. He did, at one point, see them as potential significant others, they are good companion, they both have good spirit, they're beautiful people inside and out but he is more than a little aware that if he did decide to go out with one, the other might feel left out and that is just one of those things that he doesn't much care about.

"It's nothing life-shattering, that question we said we wouldn't ask you but for us, it would lead to uncomfortable situations, it'd be like two kids fighting over a piece of candy, one of those everlasting ones." 

The mental image makes Cyrille blink but he chuckles softly after a few moments. "Are you comparing me to an everlasting gobstopper?" 

He has to ask, that is what it sounds like. Agni chuckles quietly and shrugs. "I suppose I am, in a way. Just look at it from the point of view of someone who is still trying to discover these things, Cyrille. After Élodie, I told myself that I didn't want to chance a single thing if it came to spending time with someone on a level that was more than friendship. My brother and me, we both know that you're probably the best thing that might ever happen to us but we can't chance destroying our friendship just for a desire that is closer to primal than anything else."

He pauses there and shakes his head. This is as eloquent as he's ever been. Cyrille knows they must have spent a lot of time thinking about this. "Sure, I have days where I think my heart beats a little faster when you're around and that I could love you the way Eoghan and Lex love one another but then I tell myself I can't do that. You're my best friend and I don't want to lose that. I've talked this over with Mira, we're both of the same mind when it comes to this, we don't want to destroy our friendship, it doesn't mean that we might not at times want to ask for something else despite our promise to one another."

Cyrille remains quiet for a long moment, giving this almost speech a long moment's thought. He does understand, really, he goes through the same thoughts often enough. He could care for these twins as more than friends, he knows he does on a certain level but not to the point of ruining things. Would he wish for things to become physical now and again? Certainly, that couldn't really hurt. Well, or so he tells himself.

"There's just one thing, Agni. You've been cutting your brother off several times a day when he's moments away from asking me questions but you have no way of knowing that the question he's after is the one you don't want him asking. You can't know what he's itching to ask me and you can't predict it. If you had Eoghan's gift, as I understand it, you might but you don't. I know that twins seem to have a deeper bond but I wish you'd give him a chance. I do want to know what he's been itching to ask me."

There, Agni sighs and shakes his head though he shrugs as he spares one last glance towards the oven. "It's not fault of mine if this friendship is destroyed. I'm doing all I can to keep it strong, it's all I want for all of us, a strong bond that will keep us going but I can't be held responsible for what Mira might do. I suppose I can't control everything though, I almost feel as though Zora takes over my when I do those things. It's not all that pleasant."

"We'll work on that together, Agni. Thank you for having been honest with me." The slighter teenager nods slightly though he simply turns around, heads back to the living room. It had been where he'd been headed before he had heard them talk and discuss in the kitchen so curiosity had gotten the better of him.

Cyrille watches him wander off and he sighs. He knows he can't just go after him to hug him and tell him everything will be all right much as he knows he can't go after Mira. He'd tried it once and the teen hadn't told him anything.

"One day, then the next, no point in rushing." He sighs, the words barely a murmur as he moves the timer to the middle of the counter so he can keep track of it.


	10. On an Island

It's been so long since I've read this book. I'm not sure if I even recall what it's really about though it's hard to forget these kind of books, they don't really go away from the mind. Boys stuck on an island, trying to survive, there is not a single adult about. I've read this book when I was so much younger.

It frightened me then, this Lord of the Flies book. At least I recall faintly that it might have really frightened me. I'm not sure why I have a copy of this book at all in my things, it looks ancient. I suppose it might have been that one particular copy from when I was a child. I can't remember if they've ever made a movie out of this book and I don't think it matters. I wouldn't really watch it.

Now if I was stuck on an island, on my own, I think I'd be screwed and not in a pleasant way. Then again, that hasn't happened since Andoni's passing and I don't think much about it. I try not to, there's no point in thinking too much about things I've lost. That is something I've learned from Eoghan.

If I was stuck on an island with the rest of our little family, then I might not be so absolutely screwed. I can imagine that we could manage something of a mock, tiny little society before someone rescued us, if we were rescued. I don't even know why my mind goes to these places. My imagination is one rather morbid place when it tries to bring up some imagery from old times gone by.

I look at the book one last time and I shake my head. I don't really want to read it again, I don't know why but I just don't. I can't throw it away but I can put it in a box somewhere. I do have a couple of boxes left against one wall in the living room. All my shelves are filled to the brim with books, these are worth more than my old furniture was before Eoghan changed it all. It was the only thing I really spent any money on back then.

Though I suppose I could buy another shelf, at this point. I have enough books still in boxes to fill it up and I might just discover old treasures. I haven't seen any of my regular treasure-hunt books in my shelves, they're probably the ones still in my boxes and that makes getting a new shelf all the more important. I don't know if I'll order it online or I might ask Eoghan for some help. He seems to know whatever place is best to get just everything necessary when it comes to furniture.

Still, so close to the new year might not be the best of times to go on a furniture hunt. The weather has eased up some, the air is warmer though it still chilly but otherwise I think it's too early to be out shopping. In a week or two more though I know it'll be on my mind until then. I might still as Eoghan though I'll ask him if he knows of any website that could hold whatever I'm looking for. Ordering then might not be a bad thing. I don't know that any company is open this early in the year but it's worth a shot.

  


With the book safely put away in the box along with the rest of its peers, though I did have a look at the books that were at the top of that box and found nothing that really caught my attention. I went back to the rest of my morning. It's so strange to not be rushing off to head to the library that I've been trying to fill in my time doing nothing and everything. I've looked at my riddles all over again, I've read books, I've cleaned the apartment. It really is strange.

I know we'll be going back to work in another week or two. At that point I imagine that all the books will have been transferred over to the new building though I don't know that they'll be out on their shelves as they should be. That's something else altogether and I can't imagine that Eoghan will go that far. I don't mind going in to unpack the books, set them up where they belong and make sure, essentially, that I know what is where so I can direct people properly.

It will be so strange, being in a new library but I think it's for the best. The old one, despite the work that had been done to fix up the heat problem, still was cold and uncomfortable, I was constantly afraid that books might just freeze and become ice blocks that would break and shatter if they were dropped.

Overly dramatic, I'm aware. That's just how I am when it comes to these books.

When I lost Andoni, I turned my attention and my focus to something else, I suppose that something else turned out to be books. I needed an outlet, I needed something to focus on and there was nothing else that grasped my attention and held it as firmly as these things did.

  


I look at the shelf-free wall of my living room and my mind refuses to let go. I do the only thing I can do. I put on a slightly warmer jacket though I know I'm not heading outside but at times I feel like the hallways aren't as warm as the rest of the building, and I head off to the elevator. I've never been a fan of the stairs and I know that is never going to change, no matter that I might want those things to change. Stairs are a pain to climb with my crutch.

Once on the top floor, I step from the elevator and to that single door. I stop before knocking and I look at my watch. It's half past ten and I know they're early riser so I don't feel so bad for knocking. 

Alexis is the one to open the door and I smile up to him gently. I imagine he might not have expected me this early, this is our usual shared-meal day. I laugh at the somewhat surprised look on his face, murmuring an apology when he quirks one of his brow. It feels so strange to be openly able to act this way around anyone.

"I'm sorry if I've bothered you guys in the middle of something. I was just stuck on one particular thing and I know no better person to help me with this than-"

"Armin!" There he is, nearly bouncing, an apron on and I laugh at the sight of him, flour almost everywhere, there's even some in his hair. He sticks his tongue out and I shake my head.

"You're busy, I know, I'm sorry. It's just that it finally clicked that I needed at least one new shelf for my books, if not two and you're the one person I know who can find anything anywhere so I thought you'd have somewhere for me to look at different kind of shelves. I have a few boxes of books still left unpacked, I know they won't fill in two shelves but I thought I was due to split my collection by theme so much room and what have you."

Eoghan blinks and snickers, amused, I suppose, at the reason for my visit. Though he was smiling just moments later and I sighed. The sight of him still fills me with warmth. I know I can't have him this way and I'm just so glad to have him as my friend, it's more than I could ever dream of, really.

"I know just the place. Here's a deal, you can come and supervise me as I finish preparing the pizza dough and then we'll have ourselves a look through a few catalogues I have that should have exactly what you're looking for!"

I can only agree to the idea, it is, after all, why I came up here in the first place and I don't mind 'supervising' him, as it stands. Not that he needs it.


	11. No Organization

Everything seems absolutely chaotic. I know it's no one's fault by my own at this point. I should have come by during the holiday break to make sure nothing was out of place. There seems to have no organization. There are boxes filled with books everywhere and when I look into them, I see no theme. Of course the books are all mostly together in the way they were on their shelves, that would have worried me but it almost seems as though they didn't write down where they had come from and just put everything together.

This puts a dampener on things. Not much of a dampener but I had hoped to at least have the boxes set out by their respective shelves, it would have made things a lot easier to work with when the time came to unpack everything.

I know the working crew is due to come back in the next couple of days, I might just ask them to at least put the boxes in places where they belong, placing the books we can do ourselves. I might just take the whole gang here, I'm sure Lex will agree with the idea, and we'll set books up into the shelves. For now, I guess I have myself one job. I look into the box and write down what's in it, or at least the general subject of what's in there. I'm sure if some books aren't where they should be, they can be moved at a later date.

No one can expect a freshly transferred library to run perfectly on its first open days though there still is some time.

  


After a few hours of too long work, I can finally look at the mess of boxes and nod to myself. They're all marked. Well almost. Some I looked at and I couldn't honestly tell what the books that were in it were about so I let them be. Those boxes I'll have them move to sit by the desk and Armin can look them over and make sure they get placed where they should. It is that simple in the long run.

I look over the whole floor from what I can see of it where I stand. I can see a kid's corner, already set up nice and comfortable. An area for the computers that has been enclosed in glass walls, less to worry about where that is concerned. I know there are several reading corners and the area to the second floor is no longer accessible without a key and only Armin will have that key for the time being. No point in letting everyone up there when we haven't even decided what we'd be setting up, after all.

This place looks fine. It's warm and comfortable, the heat works well, there's bright, clear sunlight streaming in through the bland windows. I was updated a couple of days back that the work was coming along at a good pace and that within a few more weeks or a month at most I wold have the stained glass for the windows. Not that I could have it changed then but that is aside the point, really. I'll just put them somewhere safe, the second floor more than likely and that would be that, until the weather is warm enough to warrant switching the plain windows to the ones that would be there until the end of everything. 

That's how I see it, in any case.

  


The construction's protective fencing is still everywhere around the place and I'm thankful for that. I don't really want anyone coming around yet despite that everything is more or less completed. 

As I step outside, I turn to the doors, locking them and putting the keys in my pocket. Those will belong to Armin once I bring him to see the finished product. I have a double, of course, but I don't see that I'll ever need it. At least I hope to never really need it.

I turn around and blink at the sight of Lex leaning against the car. He must have walked and I'm a little baffled by the idea. It's a fair distance to cover and while the weather is nice, I hadn't expected him to want to walk this far. He had told me that he'd wait for me back home so the sight of him, leaning against the long since cooled car worries me a little.

I hope walk down the stairs carefully, glad that I'd swept the snow off of them before I'd gone in the church else I get this feeling I would have slipped right on down and that wouldn't have been exactly pleasant.

He smiles at me as I approach him and the worry begins to melt away. If there had been some trouble, he wouldn't have been smiling at me.

"You've walked all of this way?" I have to ask him, it seems almost surreal. The buses don't run yet at least not this early in the morning. He shakes his head, a soft laugh escaping him as he does. "Cyrille actually dropped me off."

"What?"

"Cyrille and the boys, they were headed in this direction and I figured I might as well see if they felt like dropping me off. So I got in with them and they dropped me off. I could have walked, the weather's nice enough but I don't think I'd have made it in one piece. They dropped me off a couple of streets from here and I nearly fell on my ass several times just walking from there to here. The sidewalks are icy and they haven't dropped any salt down to help with that. I might have broken something on the way here if I'd walked."

"I still don't get it. Not that I don't appreciate that you're here but why?"

He grins again, his eyes bright and amused. He shakes his head with a chuckle. "I just wanted to? That and I want us to stop at one particular shop, there's something I've been meaning to get from there and I need you with me to decide on which one is best. You do have better taste than me when it concerns some things."

Most certainly not suit and ties. He knows just what to wear to look perfectly dashing in those and I almost drool every time I see him dressed up so perfectly well. 

Finally I step him to him to steal a kiss. He chuckles softly against my lips and I nip at his bottom lip. "I take it you want to drive?"

"If that's okay?"

As if it wasn't. I hand him the keys and walk my way carefully around the car to slip into the passenger side. "That reminds me I need to buy stuff to take care of the church steps. The ice clings to them and they're slippery. I'm pretty sure the wheelchair ramp is as bad, so we'll need to get something for that too while we're on the way."

"I'm pretty sure that's on the way to the store I want us to head to so I certainly don't mind if we stop there to get some salt for the steps. We'll have to keep a bucket out by the door of the library as it is, at least until the ice melts and the weather starts to warm up again. In a month or so of course but still."

I nod, buckling myself up as he starts the car and drives us out of the parking lot. I don't know where we're going but I don't mind. He's never led me astray before and if he wants us to check something out and needs my help to decide whatever is best, I can only go with him. I'd go to the end of the world with him as it stands, even if that took me through hell and back. He's my everything and I'd do it all to make sure I'd be at his side forever.


	12. Food

"I should learn to drive." Yael huddles a little just outside the bus shelter, he hugs his coat a little closer and spares a glance into the shelter. They were inside until this one little old lady stepped inside, reeking of cigarette and who knew what else, they stepped out, unable to handle the scent. 

Quentin at his side, straightening his scarf a little, shakes his head. "I suppose you could but in this weather it's hardly the best time. If you want to learn, we both can go and take the classes, then the tests."

"I just feel like we're using him whenever we ask him to get stuff for us or we ask him to drive us around. When we take the bus it's not as bad but heading off to get food for the cats in this weather, by bus, is a freezing pain in my butt." Inside the shelter, he hears the old woman snort and he tunes her out. It is bad enough they're not protected by the wind due to her smell, after all.

"If he minded, I'm pretty sure he would tell us, Yael."

As the bus eases by and stops next to them, they both step to the side, letting the old woman get on first, despite that they know very few other people who would bother with that kind of respect. Old folks, even if they smell, should be respected to a point and old folks deserve to get on the bus first.

Something like that.

  


"At least this time we didn't forget the buggy. Lugging that huge pouch of food back home was a pain on the hands, I couldn't feel my fingers for a while after that, it wasn't really pleasant." Yael shakes his head as they step into the shop, a specialized pet shop that has more brands of animal food than the big chains. This is the only place they visit for their needs, or well, at least the needs of their cats.

"True. Litter box at the bottom and food on top? We should get a second bag, it would help us along."

"Or we learn to drive." Yael offers his companion a wry smile as they step into the food aisle.

"We could get one of these little kiddy-cart I've seen around, you just drag it around, the bus rarely has that many people when we take it because of the hour so I'm sure it wouldn't be too much of an issue. We could even have heavy plastic sheet on there to cover the stuff with if it rains when we're out."

Yael blinks but laughs softly, startling another patron one row over. "It sounds as though you've given this plenty of thought. I suppose we could give it a try. It's no worse than folks with these huge strollers. Though honestly, I really think I should try to learn to drive."

"We'll give it some thought, they're no rush yet but we won't just ignore the idea. At least we'll wait until spring though I guess we can start the learning part as far as all the books and knowledge is necessary. The car-driving part can wait until spring. Sounds good?"

"Sounds good. I found the food. Let's get that in the cart and we'll get the stuff for the litter box. Once that's all paid for we'll figure out how we get these settled in out the buggy. I could carry one of the food pouches since we need two of them, I know I can't carry that litter sand anywhere for how heavy it is. I guess a second buggy couldn't hurt until we either get licenses or that kiddy-cart, as you call it."

Quentin looks at the two large pouches of food in their cart and shakes his head though there is clear amusement in his face. "So many mouths to feed."

Once everything is paid for, they step to the side to allow any other clients to pay for their things and they start to carefully layer things into their buggy. The box of litter sand at the bottom, the two pouches of cat food set on top though one does fit almost perfectly next to the sand. They tug the cover over to keep everything as dry as possible and start on their way back out of the store and to the couple of blocks they need to walk along to get back to the bus stop so they can go home.

  


"I don't even know if I'll be comfortable with the idea of driving but I guess that unless I give it a try, I won't know." Yael looks up to the sky as they step out of the bus, waiting for it to drive off before they cross the street to get back to their side of the road. "I tried driving once, just once. It was on an abandoned road, not a thing or person in sight and I just don't know. I felt a bit as if everything was too complicated, like I had to focus on too many things at once." Quentin shrugs lightly and releases the handle of their buggy as Yael settles his hand on it. They do share the dragging duty most of the time.

They cross one street, then another and turn to their door, opening it and then closing it once they are inside. The inside heat pulls sighs from both of them as they tug gloves off, hats, scarves and boots. They hang their coats up and then pull the buggy inside though it stays on the rug that sits right by the door so it doesn't bring any wet snow inside.

From it they pull the two bags of food, a few bags of treats and a couple of toys before working together to pull the box of litter sand out of it. They set everything aside and Quentin takes a moment to roll the buggy back into the entryway where it will finish drip-drying. He closes the door again behind him and picks up one of the bags of food, knowing he can already transfer its content into their sealed box. It seems easier to feed them from a box that only needs to be opened instead of struggling to open and close a bag that has no closing mechanism day in and out.

"I think we deserve some sitting time in front of the fireplace after that." He grunts as he drops the bag next to the container since Yael is already emptying the first one into it.

"I was going to head up to work in the garden, we could sit under the spotlights or step into the tropical side for a little while to finish warming up?"

Quentin rolls his eyes and sticks out his tongue with a somewhat amused glance. "If I have to drag you by the ankles to get you to sit in front of the fireplace with me. I will."

He knows better than to offer the fake threat of dragging the other his hair. Yael's hair is sacred in its own way and doing anything bad to it is, well, terribly bad.

Yael blinks at him, staring for a heartbeat as he tries to make his mind on whether or not he should take the threat seriously. He laughs after a moment and shakes his head. "All right, fine, how about you get the box of litter sand in here while I transfer these food bags and then we'll see about some fireplace cuddling for a bit to finish warming up, you caveman."

Grinning, Quentin disappears out of the cat's room and back to the front door where he lifts up the box of litter sand with a soft grunt and slowly makes his way back to his companion. The box is heavy, the two opened finger slots cutting slightly into his joints so he sets it down when he's halfway there to flex his fingers lightly. He picks it back up after a few moments and finishes his slow trek into the cat's room to drop the box off carefully.

"We can transfer this one later, it's not about to go anywhere and we don't need it this very instant. Now come and cuddle, or else, no cuddling."

"That's a bit redundant if you think about it. If I don't go cuddle I don't get cuddles?" Yael laughs as he stands and stretches, his head shaken lightly. "Let's go warm up by the fire."


	13. Compassion

If he had been anyone else, I don't think I would be here right now. I don't even know that I still would be alive. Eoghan might not be willing to admit it but his compassion is ever present and he gives his all to those he considers his friends and family. He's gone out of his way to get the library moved to a better building when the old one proved to not be worth saving. He took me in after he woke up my gift, he offered me this roof, this place I can call my own, a place I never would have been able to afford otherwise.

I sink in deeper into the couch, a couch he had given me and I think back on that day in the woods though, I still get chills. I don't honestly remember the weather or the particular day or any of those insignificant details. I just remember him coming out of seemingly no where and offering to help me get back to the building. If Alexis hadn't told him that he'd seen me heading off into the woods, I would have stayed lost and I would have died. It would have put an end to the misery that had been my life at that point but I'm glad things turned out differently.

I close my eyes, my mind almost effortlessly bringing up that time I was on the roof, ready to give up, ready to give in to these voices. I think I would have honestly jumped if he hadn't come out to me. If he hadn't offered me his hand. The quietness of things when I took his hand, I could barely believing it. I didn't even want to let it go. I cried like a child finally meeting their parents for the first time, like a child finally understanding what it was like to be accepted, to be loved.

I don't much remember how I felt after he released my hand, when he'd put that bracelet on me. Here my fingers brush along that bracelet as I think about it. I smile, just the ghost of a smile. I had been terrified, so I suppose it is a lie to tell myself I don't remember how I felt after he released my hand. Though I was terrified just before he released it, when he did I was swept with a sort of relief. The voices were so quiet, not silent, no, the silence would take months to achieve, years without the bracelet but they were so much quieter.

  


There, on the door, a short series of knocks. I chuckle softly, shaking my head as I ease out of the couch and make my way to the door to let him in. "You know you can always simply come in, it isn't as though I have anyone in my life to spend time with and it's unlikely that you'd catch me doing who knows what. Other than the usual stuff, that is."

Eoghan chuckles and touches my shoulder, I keep a sigh to myself. Any touch I can get from him is always wonderful. It makes me feel accepted and wanted though I know he could never give me what Andoni has given me. For one, I'm sure Alexis wouldn't appreciate and two, Eoghan is far too faithful to Alexis to even think of those things. I know this and I accept it as well as I can, it isn't always easy but there's nothing else to do about that.

"I would honestly love to walk in on you having some private, personal times, one of these days, Armin." 

I blink up at him, my cheeks taking on a rosy glow. He laughs and we head back into the living room. It is my favourite room, the crackling fire is just so relaxing.

"Do you even take care of those needs?" He actually sounds genuinely curious as he asks his question. He settles into the armchair and I sink back into the couch. I blink wide, owl-eyes at him, as if I can't wrap my mind around what he's asked and I honestly can't really.

"Since Andoni, there hasn't really been any needs, Eoghan." The words are out of my mouth before I can even think them through. I frown softly at myself and shake my head. They are true enough. I haven't felt any sexual desire in any way towards anyone since Andoni's death and there just hasn't been a need for me to have any 'private, personal time' as he puts it.

He nods, as if that answer was sufficient though there is a sad look on his face as he does it. I suppose that it could be something of a sad thing that I have no sexual desires whatsoever. I don't much see anything that could pass as good looks when I look in my mirror and I suppose that's enough to kill any thought that anyone might see me as a potential partner. Some might not see how it all links together but it's rather clear in my mind, really.

His hand touches mine and I look up to him, a little startled. He smiles, that smile that warms me in ways I can't explain. "You were staring off. I didn't mean to pry about the private moment things. I just believe that anyone, even if they doesn't have anyone in their lives, deserves a little pleasure. Though I know some aren't interested in sexual matters at all and that is something else entirely but you know what I mean."

I do know what he means and I shrug lightly, a quiet chuckle escaping him. "The voices are silent now. With the bracelet at least. I can keep them silent without the bracelet but it takes too much focus to keep that going for too long, it's a bit frustrating honestly but I know, it's likely to take me years until the control is as natural as putting on some clothes in the morning."

There is nothing overly natural about putting clothes on in the morning for me, I always feel very clumsy but I can't help it, that's just how I am and there's no changing that. He squeezes my hand gently and I relax a little more. I know he's only looking out for me, he's just doing all he can to make my life more than just 'bearable'. He's so compassionate that only a blind man wouldn't see it.

"I'm glad the voices are silent now though, with the bracelet on at least. You've made so much progress. I hadn't made that much progress in that short an amount of time myself when I started learning the trade and I was born into this gift. I guess I didn't have the kind of discipline you have now."

I blink at him, one quirked brow to let him know that I'm pretty sure I don't have a whole lot of discipline to my life but I know that's not the case. Still. I feel some pride in knowing I'm a quick study. To be praised this way, even though it isn't really a praise, is just one of those things.

My handicap has always been on the forefront with my family. No matter how good my grades were or how well I was going anything I put my mind to, they were always more worried that my handicap would get worse or that somehow I'd become completely lame if I kept up with all those things I was doing. I wanted to learn more about the whole world and nothing could have stopped me. Except my leg, that was.

"You know you don't have to come and spend this time with me every week still." I don't like saying those words but I don't want him to feel as though he has to keep on coming down to see me.

"Armin, I step down from my own palace in the sky to spend time with you because you deserve to have someone to spend time with and because I want to spend time with you. It really is that simple."

I can only smile, my eyes a little wet. It means so much to me.


	14. Lost Again

"How can she keep getting in situations like these?" Yael looks up to the small feline, perched up in one of the higher trees in the garden.

"She didn't even try to climb up any tree when we got her up here on her own. I suppose she saw Colby climb up and she followed him up there." Quentin studies their surrounding a moment and he shakes his head. This is one of the biggest tree Yael has planted up in the garden and getting up there is going to be nearly impossible, at least not without some outside help and he doesn't know that any of them has that kind of a gift. They will have to set up the ladder.

"She just got busy getting lost the first time, though I suppose I should say lost again. When I shook the tin of candy, she came running out of wherever she'd been hiding in and that was that. This though, this is different. I don't think our hope of letting the cats have access to this room is going to work." He sighs as he utters those words, really having believed that he could somehow manage that much but if Astra kept on getting stuck up trees, mimicking her siblings, it couldn't work.

"We're going to need the ladder, unless you'd rather try the human ladder alternative. I can hold your weight up just fine so you could try to climb up my shoulders." Yael studies his companion for a moment before he shakes his head with a wry smile. 

"I don't even think we'd be tall enough. We're going to have to get the ladder." He sighs and rubs a hand over his eyes, his head shaken lightly. "Stay here and keep an eye on her, I'll be back with the ladder."

A piece of equipment he never uses, not much caring for it. They could hardly leave Astra up there on her own, meowing pitifully. He really doesn't know how she'd gotten up there, it bothers him. Though there are branches within reach if Quentin does give him something of a boost.

"On second thought, I think I might try your method first. I used to climb trees at the orphanage, of course I'd get stuck and Sterling would have to get me back down but I think I can manage this one. Let's give this a try to if I do get stuck, then you can get the ladder." The last thing he wants is to trample everything growing at the base of the tree with the heavy ladder.

  


Once up and able to reach the thicker branches, Yael carefully makes his way up, Astra still meowing pitifully as she watches him come her way. The climb up is slow and steady and once he is within reach of her, she almost jumps at him. He hugs her to his chest for a long moment and looks down the way he came. He knows he can't climb back down with a single arm so he sets Astra up on his shoulders and she almost curls there, her claws partly digging in. He calls her his parrot on most days. She loves climbing to his shoulders and just staying there.

He turns then, carefully, and starts to make his way down. One branch, then the other, until he's as low as he can manage. He sits on his branch then and tugs the now mostly purring feline from his shoulders. "I'm going to have to drop her down to you, Quentin. There's no way I'm jumping from up here with her digging her claws into my shoulder."

It isn't so much dropping as moves to grasp the branch with his legs and then lowers himself as far as he can go, nearly hanging upside down. Quentin reaches out and their fingers nearly touch. Yael hands the feline over and carefully pulls himself back up to his branch.

"How are you going to get down?" Astra is already settling on Quentin's shoulders, just sitting there, clinging somewhat, her whole episode with the tree already forgotten, it seems.

"I'll just lower myself with my arms until I'm as low as I can get and I'll drop, unless you think you can do the reverse ladder and manage to get my weight balanced on your hands or your arms or something so I can get down without breaking anything." He's not overly afraid of 'breaking anything' but it would be an uncomfortable bit of time for him while it healed and he didn't much care for that.

"Let me drop her out of the garden and I'll come back in. You can lower yourself down as much as you can and I should be able to get you braced on my shoulders, we'll work from there." Quentin doesn't wait for an answer, he steps away from the tree and down the pathway that leads him to the door. He carefully drops Astra out of the door and closes it again before he's jogging back to the tree.

He settles himself as close to the trunk as he can manage and Yael carefully eases himself out, legs dangling until Quentin's hands curl about his ankles and his feet settle on those waiting shoulders. He laughs softly and together the work on getting him back to the ground. "This is absolutely crazy."

"I think we can both indeed agree that the cats up here could have worked if it hadn't been for Astra's inability to get herself down from high places on her own."

"Pretty much. Can we get out of this place before I start to think I have to go back up that tree for absolutely no reason? My feet are killing me and I could do with soaking them in some hot water for a bit."

"You should have kept your shoes on."

"I wouldn't have been able to get up that tree with my shoes on. You can check me over for injuries when we're down there and I'm off my feet for a while."

Chuckling, Yael leads them out of the garden, taking a moment to rinse his feet of dirt and wipe them mostly dry on a small rug he keeps next to the doors. When they step out of the door, Astra runs down the stairs, as if caught somewhere she wasn't meant to be. Both demons look after her for a moment before they laugh and shake their head. 

"We tried but the garden stays off limit."

"There's the screen door, it allows the scents to come down all year round and that's enough for me. These cats have a huge play area here on the ground floor and ways to get up near the ceiling and back down without an issue, they don't really need the garden up there. Plus, in the warmer seasons they have access to the outside world through the catio."

"I guess you're right, I just wanted to see if it was possible at all for these guys to be up there with me when I was working there or to just have access to everywhere in the house." Yael shrugs and heads to the living room, dropping almost bonelessly to sit into the couch while Quentin disappears into the kitchen to get a large bowl and some hot water.

"We should totally get one of those foot massaging things, you know, the ones you put hot water in and start it up and it vibrates and stuff?"

Yael blinks a moment but laughs. "We have plenty of things that vibrate in this house, I don't believe we need another one!"

"That is not what I meant and you know it!" Quentin blushes slightly as he finally comes back with his bowl and water, he sets it down on the floor and steps back as Yael slides his feet into it with a low groan of pleasure. 

"Now let's have a look at you to make sure you're in one piece and you don't have any bit of bark or whatever else still stuck on you."

"I'm fine, Quentin, let's just have a bit of rest and relaxation, please?"

"Anything you want."


	15. He Walked By

"They keep on looking at you, you know." Agni's voice is softly amused as he sits on one of the benches just inside the mall. Next to him, Cyrille sits, looking at nothing in particular, he's thinking. Though he blinks and looks up at Agni's words, letting his gaze sweep in the general direction his friend is motioning to. He sees two young women, both a little under-dressed for the weather though they're inside so he figures it's not such a bad thing, and they're looking their way. As soon as they see him looking they look away, giggling.

"I suppose I attract a few looks with my hair." Still streaked red, green and frosty blue. He has no issues with people staring, he's pretty used to it at this point. He looks to his other side where Mira is looking down at the almost empty glass of lemonade in his hands. He nudges the teen a little, a bit of worrying nipping at him. Mira has been quiet and almost a little distant since his last attempt at asking him whatever it was that was bothering him, with Agni cutting him off right at that precise moment where the question would have come out.

Mira looks up to him, his eyes wide, a little startled as if he'd been surprised doing something he shouldn't have been. "How about we head to the theatre now, see what's playing so we can decide which movie we're watching?"

Mira's eyes brighten just a little and he offers the barest hint of a smile. This alone is enough to begin erasing some of Cyrille's worries though not many of them. He eases to his feet, the twins following him and he walks away, right past the two women, not sparing a glance their ways though he hears them giggle as they go and he rolls his eyes.

"They're following us." Agni snickers softly as they head further inside, to the movie theatre to see what movies were playing. It had been one of those decisions. The day had started out as being absolutely chilly and there had been nothing to really interest any of them in their home, so they'd decided on an outing.

"They can follow us anywhere, really. I'm not interested." Cyrille shrugs as they stop in front of the theatre. He looks up to the large panel with all the currently playing movies displayed on it. 

For a moment, they all stay silent, looking through the titles before Mira points one title in particular, a slightly hopeful look on his face. Agni looks over, lips quirking to a grin as he notices the title and Cyrille only chuckles with a nod.

"That sounds like a good idea, Agni, you want to get the tickets? I'll split the cost of the snacks with Mira and we should be about even." Agni snickers, knowing he's the one paying for their movies since he's the one carrying around the pass, allowing him a lower ticket cost for the movies. He just has to have it scanned three times and voila, he has himself his tickets at nearly half-price.

They step inside, each with their tickets, and once all their tickets are checked, they move past the doors and further into the warmly lit area. "They're still following us."

Cyrille rolls his eyes as they hear the giggle of the two women just a few steps away from them. "Agni, care to go save us some seats so we can be together, we'll join you as soon as we have the snacks, popcorn and something to drink?"

"And some of those sour candies!"

"Mira, I turned your brother into a sour candy addict." He snickers as Agni walks off towards the back and the couple of steps that will lead him to the hallway of doors. Behind him, he can still hear the two women talking to themselves and he rolls his eyes. He steps closer to Mira, slipping his arm about the teen's waist to pull him as close as he can.

"Just go with it, let's get out snacks and I can only hope they get the hint." He murmurs those words into Mira's ear, kissing the teen's temple before he straightens slightly. Mira leans against him, as if the motion is the easiest thing in the world and Cyrille tightens his hold gently on that waist.

He knows he can't really give Mira what the teen might want though he sees no real harm, they simply would need to talk it through after all, all three of them talk things through.

"So we're getting some popcorn for your brother along with a bag of sour candy, some popcorn for us and something to drink, anything else that catches your attention?" 

Mira looks into the counter where candies are settled, he studies them for a moment before shaking his head. "Just the popcorn and some juice will be perfect. I honestly don't know how Agni can handle eating these sour candies. I mean, I like them but only if I eat one or two every now and then."

"I know what you're saying. I honestly only bought them that time as a gag, I was curious to know how you two would react to them but I guess he really likes them. I guess we all have one food-based weakness." He chuckles as they order and pay. By then, he no longer can hear the women behind him and he lets relief flood him a bit. "Wish I could walk this way all the way to our movie but I think we're going to need all of our hands. They should have trays, I swear."

"Well they do have trays for the drinks, see?" Mira picks it up, the three drinks settled in there and he drops the bag of candy between them. "If you want to carry the popcorn, I can carry the drinks?"

Cyrille chuckles, moving to pick up the three small bags of popcorn. He knows they could have gone for a single large bag but it always seems so complex to eat from the bags unless only one person is using it. Now being at home, one very large bowl filled almost to the brim was perfect, they could all eat from it but this was different. "Lead the way."

Mira grins, the first real sign of happiness Cyrille has seen on that face since the other day and they head up the couple of steps and into the door marked with a big 3. On the very first row at the back, they notice Agni, settled dead center with his coat set out two chairs to his left. They make their way into the row and settle, Mira handing his brother his coat back so he can set his own to his chair. 

Each of the drinks are set into the cup holders the chairs all have and the bags of popcorn are handed out when the twins are settled. Mira holds onto two of them while Cyrille finally takes off his coat and sets it behind him. When he sits back down, Mira hands him his bag of popcorn back.

"I guess you two managed to get rid of the women following us around, what did you do?" Agni tears into his bag of sour candy, seeming to care to eat those first and foremost.

"Just kept on ignoring them. There wasn't much more for us to do, really. We just walked right on past them and I guess they got the hint." Cyrille lightly touches Mira's arm, a thank you for having gone with his little game to get the women to leave them back. The teen leans his head against Cyrille's shoulder for a moment and that's enough. Cyrille knows that whatever the issue is, between the three of them, they can talk it out, make it work. 

"If we're not all bloated from the popcorn once the movie is over, we can have ourselves some lunch at the food court and then we can either just keep on walking around the mall or we can head home. We can see about that after the movie."


	16. In the Shed

Most of what he keeps in Adela's room is alive. The setup of the room has been done following a very strict design. Digging into the soil, one will eventually find the ground but there is a thickness of earth, the water is clear and natural, it flows through a filtration system the way pool water does.

This, as a whole, means that now and then, a bit of pruning is necessary when some of the bushes and the one tree decides to sprout branches where they shouldn't. The pruning usually only happens twice or three times a year at most, and this is one of those first times where it has happened in winter, at least as far as Lex can recall. 

Wherever he has lived to this point, he always kept Adela—though her joining him as a pet is recent, there have been other pets before—in areas where snow was rare so he could make sure to keep the temperature as they should. Florida, southern California, Spain, Greece are all places where he's lived with animals around. Now, as he looks into her room from the outside, through the large glass wall that separates her from the rest of the apartment, he notices it is about that time when pruning is required.

He frowns softly, trying to recall where the pruning shears have been left last and a soft groan escapes him as his mind gives him exactly the information he requires—except that this information is not the one he wanted to have. Lex steps away from the thick glass and makes his way towards the opposite end of his shared home, to Eoghan's slight office. Gently he knocks on the door and steps inside when he hears the soft rustle of paperwork. 

"Please tell me we haven't left the pruning shears in the shed." He already knows the answer to his question but still he feels the need to ask it. As though asking that one question now might get an answer different from the one he knows is the truth.

Eoghan blinks as he puts his papers away, turning his gaze to his lover. His lips quirk into a wry sort of smile and he shakes his head. "I'm pretty sure they're in the shed, why?"

With a groan, Lex shakes his head and leans slightly against the frame of the door. Eoghan looks at him with certain amusement in his eyes. This is a rare behaviour out of Lex and it certainly is interesting.

"I guess we'll have to go out and buy some, that or I bundle up and I shovel to clear a path to the shed and then I clear the snow in front of the door. Buying one would be less problematic but I know that's the cheap way out."

"You still haven't told my why you seem to need the pruning shears, though."

"I need to do some pruning in Adela's room?"

Eoghan laughs softly, his eyes bright and amused as he moves to his feet and stretches with a soft yawn. "Poor darling, you don't want to be out in this weather but at the same time you know you'll have to. Here, I'll bundle up too and we'll both clear a pathway to the shed and the door. That way if we need something else from there we can go and get it."

"So long as we don't get any more heavy snow falls or bad snow storms."

"Both are possible and rather likely but really, I'm sure it can't be that bad. That or we take the easier way out even, we bring the plower out of the garage."

Lex blinks then, a frown finding his lips as he seems to think that one particular bit of information. "We have a plower?"

Eoghan snickers, far too amused by the whole situation though he calms down after a few moments and nods. "I bought it late last fall, I figured we might not really have any use for it since we pay someone to plough the snow out of the driveway but I told myself that maybe, just maybe we might end up using it."

"And you just tell me this now, after watching me struggle with the idea of having to shovel all that snow to get to the shed."

"Struggle? Honestly Lex, you weighed the idea for a few moments and I could see it in your eyes, you were more tempted by the idea of heading to the store than shovelling. Come on, let's go and see how this plower works and how well, quickly and efficiently it can get the job done."

"You do it, I'll stick by." Lex shakes his head, a wry smile to his lips. Eoghan steps to him, stopping to steal a brief kiss before he walks past and heads to the door to get his coat and boots from the wardrobe.

"I know, new machinery doesn't like you on the first use, this isn't new, love. I certainly don't mind. I can get it going for the first few feet and you can try it a little, see how it handles your gift."

Dormant or not, well controlled or not, strife is a troublesome gift to have when it comes to most things that run on a motor of sorts. Knives are fine, spoons, pots and pants; cars on the other hand, computers, radios, their stove. All of those need to be 'tamed' before he can use them.

  


Twenty or so minutes after they've stepped outside into the thick, heavy snow, the pathway to the shed has been cleared, Eoghan is bringing the plower back into the garage since it seems like an idiotic idea to leave it in the shed and Lex is going through said shed to find the shears.

While in there, he snags the bag of bird seed that he didn't recall they had, bringing it outside along with a feeder. He sees no harm to leaving food out for the birds in the winter, it even relaxes him to watch them come and go, peck at the seeds, steal some and then fly away as if caught in a terrible act of thievery.

"Do you remember buying bird seeds?" He calls out as Eoghan shoves his hands into his pockets after stepping back out of the garage. The cold is somewhat biting and he's less than thrilled about it. He shakes his head at the question, looking at the bag of seeds for a moment.

"These might no longer be edible? Though they look dry enough and I don't smell anything coming from there that shouldn't be. We can fill up the feeder and hang it up, bring the bag into the garage so we can keep it closer. Got everything you needed from there?"

"And then some. I even made sure to lock the door, it was only closed when we got to it, I was sure we'd locked it."

"It's not all that surprising, I recall the issue with the ghost rooster and Yael had trouble with garden ghosts so who knows, we might just have company."

Lex shakes his head as they step back to their building, moving to stand against one of the walls, the wind blocked from their position. They fill in the feeder and Eoghan locks the top of it shut before he moves to hang it up carefully. "Now maybe we'll see a few of our winter birds come around."

"Time to get back inside?" Eoghan's gaze ever hopeful as he looks out briefly and then back to Lex who nods with a soft chuckle.

"We bring in the bag of seeds into the garage and we can head back inside to warm up. You can go back to taking care of the paperwork and I can do the bit of pruning I need to get done. I swear though, we should probably have a second pair of shears we keep in the house, just in case."

"They're fine in the shed, really."


	17. Envelope

Not much progress had been made since their trip to the theatre though Mira had stopped shying away from him and refusing to look at him. It was better than no progress at all. Despite his best wishes, Cyrille hadn't managed to have the talk he wanted with the twins together, to make sure things were clear between the three of them.

There was no tension between them and he supposed it was the only reason that hadn't pushed him into really trying to have that conversation. There seems to be no point to it just yet when things did seem to be going well. At least, that was what he was telling himself, so why did he still feel the desire to have that conversation to make sure the twins understood that nothing would tear him away from them?

Shaking his head, Cyrille watched as Mira shivered slightly, hugging his blanket a moment. He was barefoot, a blanket clutched close and a few different pieces of paper held in his hand. "Mail's in!"

His teeth almost clattered as he uttered those words, he wasted little time standing around, moving to sit in front of the fire, the mail dropped on the low table a few feet from him. He wiggled his toes in front of the crackling heat of the fire and Cyrille chuckled faintly though it was a sound tinged with worry. 

"I wish you wouldn't head out to fetch the mail without any shoes on, Mira. One of these days you'll get sick. Now if it were Agni, I would only half worry, I know he can warm the ground under his feet and keep himself from frostbite but not you." Agni shot him a look as if to remind him that he was crazy to think he would go out there to get the mail barefoot, even if he could thaw and melt the snow where he stepped.

Mira shrugged, a sheepish smile tugging at his lips as he looked back to the pair sitting on the couch. "I was expecting something in the mail today, I guess that's why I rushed out to get it. Nothing for me though there is an envelope for you in there, Cy."

Curiosity piqued, Cyrille leaned to the low table and riffled through the small pile of mail. He found the one that has his name on it and he smiled as he recognized Magali's handwriting. "I bet she's going to tell me about how she found the perfect house down in Spain. She doesn't care much for computers so letters and printed photos are usual with her."

He chuckled at the memory of his sister indeed taking so many photos when they were younger, bringing them to the store to get them printed out while everyone else was starting to go gaga over digital cameras and everything else. She still used a good old fashioned film camera, or most of the time when she could get away with it, a Polaroid type with instant results. 

With a smile, Cyrille carefully opened the envelope, recalling when he last opened one too quickly and had nearly ripped the letter in half. That had been a near disaster. Onto his lap tumbled several Polaroid snapshots and a single piece of folded paper. He went for the paper first, wanting news of his sister. He read it silently, taking in all the little details she described and every time she mentioned a photo, he looked through the ones on his lap to find it to look at while he reads further on.

"This is great, they've looked at a lot of different houses but they found one on a hill, a little outside of the city where they're at, there's a pool and large rooms and even Ophé seems to like it out there. It's comfortable and well within their price range. Not that Magali usually has a price range since we can afford a lot but I know that Joana keeps a good budget." Something he tried to do as well, even though he had plenty of money on the account his parents had set up for him when he was young. He preferred using money he worked hard to earn as often as he can.

He handed the photos over to Agni who looked them over, awe visible in his eyes as he took it all in. Finally, Mira scooted over, curious though he waited until his brother handed him the photos in turn so he could look them over. 

"I've been to Spain before, just once. It's beautiful out there. I think we should totally go some time this summer. I bet we could talk Armin into talking Eoghan into letting us have at least a week off from work, all of us."

Mira finally offered the photos back over before scooting right back to the fireplace. He no longer seemed to be shivering but he still looked to be appreciating the heat of the fireplace on his toes. "I know this is a completely different thing from the current subject but I feel like swimming. We could go up top?"

Agni blinked, looking out the window a moment then back to his brother with a 'are you crazy?' look on his face. Mira rolled his eyes in turn as Cyrille put the photos back into the envelope. He would put it somewhere safe for the time being. "Agni, the door opens straight into the solarium, in case you forgot and it's kept to a summer temperature in there. I think it could be interesting to swim while there's snow everywhere."

Cyrille, stretching, chuckled softly at the idea. "It's not such a bad plan, I haven't had a swim in some time and I think it could be nice to head up. If you'd rather stay down here, no one is going to force you to come up to the pool though, Agni." "YAY!" That was all it took for Mira who was on his feet in a flash and heading off to his bedroom to change into his swimming clothes. 

Agni watched him go for a moment and shook his head. "You two go and have a swim, I want to finish this book and see if my dislike for the colour yellow is founded or not."

"I swear, Agni. Next time you'll be reading a book where the antagonist is wearing red or something and you'll start to think red is evil, which is bound to be amusing as hell all things considered."

"Red can never be evil, I'm too cool to be evil." 

"Cyrille!" Mira almost huffed from his spot by their door, wearing a long shirt that was far too big on him, it fell down so low it nearly hid his swimming trunks, all that could be seen was a hint of blue barely dropping below the hem of that shirt.

"I'm coming, Mira." Cyrille laughed, shaking his head as he went into his room to change. He dropped the envelope onto his small desk and located his own swimming trunks. He changed into them, found his towel, put on a shirt, some sandals and he joined the nearly bouncing teen at the door.

"If you change your mind, you know where we'll be, all right?" Agni nodded, shooing them off with a soft yawn. He figured he was bound to have himself a nap before he could finish reading the books, his nights had been short and he knew it was entirely his fault for playing too late into said nights, almost to early morning and then getting up when the rest of his household did. He would settle back into a proper sort of routine once they were back in the library. 

It wouldn't be too long now. Eoghan had mentioned how much progress they had made with all the books being brought over from the old place to the new one last they'd had their shared meals so within the next few days, he would gather everyone willing to help so all of said books could be unpacked and set up.

He could hardly wait, he did badly want to see the new library.


	18. An Open Magazine

"Did you buy the whole store or something?" Scattered over their living room table, there seems to be dozens of magazines, some open, some closed and some actually looking rather old, so old Eoghan isn't even sure in what year they might have come out.

"Lex?" Eoghan looks around their living room, the air is still, as though it hadn't been been disturbed in quite some time. Something that wouldn't make sense. These magazines hadn't been there the night before and Lex had only gotten up about half an hour before him. Unless they had some midnight visitors, things felt a little off at that point.

The front door eases open and closes with a soft _click_. "Lex, is that you?"

"Arms full, a little help might be nice." He calls out softly from the door, managing a step, then two before he steps. He honestly can barely see where he's going and knows there are obstacles that will appear in his way in a few more steps and he'd rather not deal with more bruised shins.

Eoghan, curious and relieved at once, walks away from their living room and to the door where Lex is standing with two boxes stacked in his arms. Eoghan reaches for the topmost one, pulling it to his arms with a slight grunt, not quite having expected its weight. "What's in there?"

"Magazines. I was looking through our private library out back when I noticed these boxes sitting in a corner. I honestly couldn't even remember leaving any of them there but I guess we must have and for a while if I didn't notice them until now. They're all old magazines, I guess I might have been a bit of a magazine junky when I last returned into the law world. Most of these have articles about certain attorneys or certain cases or just about anything that has to do with law. I figured it was time to do some cleaning."

"For a second there I thought I'd fallen through into an alternate dimension. You weren't there, these magazines were there and it felt as though they'd been left there a really long time ago." Eoghan mutters softly as he walks back to the living room, putting the box down next to the low table and to the other, mostly empty box, that he hadn't noticed again. "I'm going crazy, I didn't even see that box when I stepped out."

"A lot of these magazines are old, I suppose there's some strife in them for how long they've been around me and my things so it's possible you didn't see them. You do have this slight habit of blocking certain things out, it's like your brain is wired for it. I'm still here, this is still the regular universe and I'm not going anywhere." Lex chuckles softly, setting the second box down on top of the first one Eoghan had put on the floor.

"I don't really feel like doing this right now but I don't want to see any more boxes. I figure this is a good exercise for tomorrow." He laughs but shakes his head, looking through the magazines already scattered on their low table. He doesn't know whether or not he wants to keep any of them. Even if by some surprising twist of fate some of these articles are about his own past, it doesn't matter much, he knows.

Eoghan kneels down next to him, looking a few magazines over and piling some up on the side to be dropped into their shredder, it would do go in their composting bin. "You don't have to come tomorrow if you don't want. I know you've had a few good commissions come in and if you would rather stay here and work on them, no one is going to accuse you of not helping out."

Lex quirks a brow but shakes his head as he piles up the magazines that were on the low table, setting them aside himself as he opens one of the new boxes and pulls out another pile to riffle through, to see if anything catches his attention. "I'm going with the group tomorrow to help with the library, it's not that I don't want to, it just feels strange to be digging through boxes when I was sure I was done. I never want to look at a box ever again if I can help it."

"Unless it's for something new we've bought, yes?" Eoghan's grin seems to be contagious as Lex grins as well moments later. He shakes his head with a soft chuckle as he keeps on briefly looking at the magazines before setting them down on the growing pile on his left. Only a couple have been put to his right and his face is plastered to them, it makes it easy to know why they're on that pile. At least, for now they're on that pile.

"At times I tell myself I just don't like unpacking stuff but unwrapping things is different. I love unwrapping you, tugging every last article of clothing away from your body so I can explore it again and again with my hands, map every little bit of you to memory." Lex grins again, keeping his gaze on the magazines in front of him though he knows Eoghan is more than likely blushing at this point. They have been together for a long, long time but some things still pull these almost timid reactions to the surface.

"Stop trying to make me blush and keep on looking through these magazines. What are we looking for exactly?" Eoghan clears his throat, willing to blush to leave his face though he sighs and leans back somewhat against the armchair settled behind him. He craves these moments when he knows it is simply the two of them, only during these brief respite from the world can he let Lex get away with saying those things.

"At this point I've only put to the side anything that has my face on it. I'm not vain, mind you, I just figure that I know there are articles about me if my face is on these covers and once I know that, I can look through them to see if said article is worth keeping or not. I'm sure most of these magazines will end up in the shredder but looking won't hurt."

Eoghan nods, going back to looking through the magazines, setting to the side the rare few that do have Lex's photo on them. There are more than he had expected but he's not all that surprised. When out working in the world of law, Lex is world known, those who have not heard his name have no access to world information.

  


"There are more magazines with my face on it than I had honestly expected." They stare at the pile left on the low table. The rest of the old and worn magazines have been put back into the boxes and these boxes dropped just outside their door to be taken down and outside to the garage where their shredder sits.

Eoghan laughs at those words, tapering off to a chuckle. "The world love you, you should be glad for that. They adoooore you!"

Lex rolls his eyes, rolling up one of the magazines and bopping Eoghan on the head with it lightly, playfully. "There's only one person on this planet whose adoration I need and we both know who this is."

At those very words, Eoghan's eyes go wide, mock-hurt by those very words, he gasps, putting on a show. "There's someone out there in the world whose adoration means more than mine? Now you've gone and broken my heart! You're so heartless! Oh how am I ever going to survive this tragedy?"

He sniffles, flopping down on the ground with a heavy sigh. Lex leans over the low table to look at his lover. "You're not much a good actor, love. Though I suppose with some practice you might convince a few folks that you are but really, that wasn't very good."

"You wound me with your words of evil."

"And you love me for it anyway."

"I must be crazy in some way, I suppose, because you're right, I do. Now, let's look these magazines over and see just how many we keep and how many got details wrong about your life, yes?"

"Sounds like a plan."


	19. Stacks

There are soft gasps all around as the little group steps into the new library, or at least, the first room of it, the building is brightly lit, thanks to proper light fixtures and the sun pouring into the wide windows. On their left, in a little alcove that Armin can't really recall seeing there when Eoghan had brought him in to show him the place, there now seems to be an area fit to be used as a wardrobe.

The air is warm as it is bright as they pass coats over to the front of the group, Eoghan and Yael hanging up everything that gets brought up their way. "Usually, I would say we can bring all of your coats deeper in, there's an area not far from the front desk where workers can drop everything that belongs to them so it doesn't get lost in with the rest of everyone's things but for today, since it's just us and only us, I figured that we could drop our things here."

"I don't know that many people will feel comfortable leaving their coats up here but that is a pretty nice idea, Eoghan."

"Thank you, Armin. I just figured, you know. People in restaurants will leave their coats in places like these when it is coat season so why not here in the library? Keep people from having to lug it around. I've also had rugs set up, they can be rolled up and away once the cold season is over, there's room on the second floor for them. It'll help dry up boots before folks make it to the library proper, so less tracking of dirt and wet stuff."

There are little nods and murmurs from the group as they move away from the alcove and past the second set of doors. "If it helps in any way, I did have a couple of cameras set up here in this section since you can't see into it from the library proper, there are cameras everywhere now as is, you can keep track of what's happening everywhere."

Yael holds one of the door open and they all file through, murmuring thank yous in passing as they do. Once everyone is inside, he steps within as well, carefully releasing the door, afraid it might smack shut but to his surprise it eases closed slowly on its own, clicking shut with a quiet sound.

Now there are wide eyes all around as those who had not yet seen the new library—every single one of them but Eoghan had seen the near finished product—saw the new place as it really was. Well the structure was reminiscent of a church, there was nothing to let anyone believe that it had ever been used as such before. There were rows as far as they could see, stacks of boxes everywhere, a small area not far from where they stood designed for comfort where people could read.

Lex groans softly at the sight of all those boxes, having expected quiet a few of them but not that many. He shakes it off, knowing this is for a good cause and that this isn't about looking through things to check and make sure everything would be kept, it really was just about unpacking everything.

"Now, you'll notice that there are a few boxes up here by the front desk, those have books that I honestly wasn't sure about. I didn't know where they might go in the library and I didn't want to have them brought out to particular shelves without being sure that this was where they needed to be. I figured Armin would be able to look through those while we started unpacking everything else. It will take us some time and I hope that everyone knows how grateful I am that you all came in to help, it means a lot. There are little step stools every few aisles for those who might need it but when I ordered the new shelving system, I made sure to get shelves that wouldn't keep books out of the reach of most people. No one honestly wants to have to climb up to get their books."

  


Eoghan honestly had expected that it would take them more than a single day to get all the books in place but by early evening, after a light snack has been bought and shared, all the books are where they belonged. Perhaps not in perfect order but they are in their proper area and he knows that will a bit of work over the next few weeks, everything would be exactly as it should have been.

As their group gathered back around the front desk, groans of exhaustion escaping most of them, Eoghan chuckled softly. "I'd like to thank everyone again for coming out here to help with the unpacking, I'm sure we all feel the same way. Today has been absolutely exhausting but we've done something great for the community."

He pauses, surveying their worn faces. He rolls his shoulders lightly to ease the settling stiffness of sore muscles. "As a thank you, I figure I can get us all some take out. We just need to figure what you guys want to eat so that we can call it in to have it prepared. We can either eat it here or head out there, head home."

"I vote for eating here, whatever it is. That way we don't have to go anywhere. I ache in ways I didn't think I could ache anymore and I do this book placing and moving around for a semi-living at this point." Agni waves his hand lightly, to make sure people know he's the one talking. He huffs softly at having to do so. Being the shortest one in their group sucks on some days.

"Well usually I'd say no food in the library but I think we can do an exception at least for this once. Though we don't really have the necessary surface for food." Armin yawns, rubbing one of his shoulders lightly as he looks around the area. There are tables and chairs in the dead center of the library, shelves of books on either side but he doesn't really care for the idea of food going anywhere near those tables.

"There's the table in the middle of the reading corner by the door? There's room for all of us and we can use one of the empty box and put it down on the table as protection from whatever it is we're going to eat."

"That might not actually bad a bad idea, Cyrille."

"Okay, so we're set on where we're eating, what about the food itself?"

There is a silence for a few moments, people thinking about what they could eat though not a word is spoken before Mira seems to break through that moment of quiet. "Pizza?"

Quentin looks to Yael for a moment, a soft snicker escaping him as he remembers that discussion they had had while walking home about why people ate takeout, especially pizza when it was so easy to make home.

There is a moment more of quiet before little nods and agreements come from the rest of the group. "Okay, so pizza it is. I'll call it in and then get it, unless you'd rather drive down there and get it, Cyrille? It'll be paid for already and you might just get there faster in your car?"

Cyrille rolls his eyes, a soft chuckle escaping him as he shrugs. "I don't mind driving to the pizza place to get our order, I'll go start the car and kick the heat up so it's toasty warm and our food stays hot while I get there and back with it."

"Much appreciated, thank you. Now what kind of pizza are we going for?"

Silence again falls and Eoghan shakes his head with an amused sigh. He supposes it can hardly be helped, the whole thing is amusing more than anything else. He blames not a single one of them, the day has been long, after all, rather long.


	20. A Small Notebook

Their return to the working world came easily enough though waking up earlier than usual in the morning after having lounged about for the past almost month was something of a nag. At the very least, as far as Agni seemed concerned, waking up early that one particular morning proved to be a chore. He blamed the game he had played well into the night despite that he had told himself not to. 

He groaned, sighed and complained as he got up, had himself a shower, some breakfast and eased into the car as it idled quietly in front of their building. In front of him, Armin was sitting, looking bright-eyed and he couldn't blame him, Agni could only imagine how much the man wanted to be back to work and in that brand new, so to speak, library. At his side, Mira was scribbling something in a notebook and he ignored it. He didn't know what his brother was up to and he didn't much care to know at that point, all he wanted was some coffee, despite that he hated the stuff with a passion. It would give him a boost.

Finally, Cyrille settled into the driver's side, apologizing briefly for delaying their trip out.

"Can we stop somewhere for some drive through caffeine on the way?" Agni mumbled, rubbing his eyes somewhat as Cyrille eased the car back into the street. There was a shared look between driver and front-seat passenger and Armin nodded. This alone had Agni go limp against his seat, his eyes fluttering shut for a few moments, at least he'd have some caffeine.

They drove up to the coffee shop's drive through, ordering a few pastries along with one coffee, two teas and one smoothie. Payment was given, the small box of pastries and the tray with all drinks offered through the window before they were driving on their way to the new library.

  


The protective construction fence was finally gone, the snow had been ploughed out of the parking lot and the stairs had been de-iced the day before. Or at least it all looked that way. Armin recalled the fence still being there after they'd unpacked all of the books, along with the still snow-covered parking lot and the stairs. Eoghan had muttered about the stairs and added some ice crystals to them to help them along.

Mira nudged his brother when the car was parked at the end of the driveway. Agni blinked himself to awareness once more and climbed out of the car with a sigh and a grumble. He didn't feel like a morning person at that very moment and he didn't want to work though he knew he couldn't stay on vacation forever though it had been nice to just lounge about and play his games without being bothered by anything or anyone while he did.

Agni watched his brother round the car up to Armin's side, offering to take the boxed pastries and the tray of drinks from the man. He smiled, his eyes clear and bright and for a few moments, Agni resented his brother's ability to be so bright-eyed so early in the morning. He knew it wasn't anyone's fault but his own and that no one had forced him to stay up late playing his game, he couldn't just blame everyone for his exhaustion. He was the only culprit.

Grumbling, he wandered off towards the side door Eoghan had told them about when they'd come to unpack the books. It would bring them inside the building from nearly the back of it and would give them time to settle in before opening the door to their brand new visitors.

Cyrille joined him after a few moments while Mira stayed at Armin's side, his hands full between his notebook, their tray of steaming drinks and the pastry that would hopefully put some sweetness to counter the taste of coffee Agni knew he'd have to drink down for the sake of awareness.

They all stepped inside, marvelling at the warmth of the place. They let Armin take the lead, following him quietly though Agni snagged his cup of coffee from the tray and took a few quick drinks from it. He winced at the taste but appreciated the heat that spread inside of him. It would do its job, he knew. 

At the front desk, the box of pastry and the tray with the remaining three drinks were set down. Mira gathered all the coats and went into the back to hang everything up. Armin rounded the desk, settling down in front of his computer with a soft sigh of content. He felt as though he was home again, it was a wonderful sort of sensation.

"All right, everyone eat up your pastry before heading off into the rows. I can imagine it will be quiet for a few days and it should help us put the books in a bit more order though I noticed they were kept mostly in order in the boxes they'd been set in, for that I appreciate. Before you all disappear into your rows, Agni I'd like to have a word with you, if you'd please?"

Mira took a pastry from the box, putting it on a napkin. He set the napkin on his notebook, took his smoothie and walked off to the furthest rows of books. Cyrille followed suit, taking a pastry from the box, setting it on a napkin, taking his tea and wandering off after Mira.

Armin looked at Agni for a quiet moment, the twin rubbing his eyes and sipping at his coffee with a sigh. "I can see you're exhausted, Agni and I can imagine that this is a bit hard for you this morning. I can let it slip of the first few days of our return but if you keep on coming into work exhausted, we're doing to have to figure something out, all right?"

Agni blinked, frowning as he tried to wrap his mind around what he was being told. After a long moment, he nodded slowly and mumbled an apology. "Gotten so used to playing games until late in the night, I told myself I have to get back on schedule but I didn't really manage tonight, I'll work on that this week, I promise."

"That's good enough for me, go on, get your pastry and see about the shelves on that side, if they need any straightening."

  


"Mira?" Cyrille turned around one set of shelves, hoping to see where the twin had disappeared to. He'd been following closely enough but Mira had stepped into one particular aisle and when Cyrille had made it there, the teen no longer was visible. "Two down and to the left of where you are." Came the soft reply. Cyrille followed the instructions and the voice, coming to stand behind Mira who was standing by the window, gazing out into the quiet morning.

"We all were pretty much in a rush this morning, I think the only alarm clock that didn't fail to ring was yours." Cyrille murmured with a soft chuckle as he gazed out the window for a few seconds. "So I didn't get to ask and I just want to ask, how are you this morning?"

He'd had plenty of timer to ask Agni that question, had gotten a few grunts in answers. The fire-born teen had looked exhausted and Cyrille knew he hadn't imagined the sounds of the game floating distantly into his room, he could only assume Mira had heard them as well though he looked much more rested.

"I'm good, thank you. It's so strange to be back to work though I can't complain, I missed helping out this way. This new building is going to take a lot of getting used to but that's for the best." He leaned against the wall, finishing up his pastry and licking his fingers clean as he did. "Agni though, he looks like hell and I know he played his game well into the night. I had to close my door though the warm breeze that went around was nice, so it took a while before I did decide to close it."

"Good, I feel bad that Agni looks so tired but he's the only one to blame for that. Ready to make sure all the books are really where they belong?" 

Mira nodded though he opened his notebook and wrote down a few things in there. Cyrille tried to look over his shoulder but Mira shook his head, closing the notebook and putting his pencil down along with his smoothie on the window sill. It would be safe there for the time being. "Let's get this place up and running the way it should."


	21. Timer

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Quentin, can you check in the oven to see if they're ready? My hands are a bit full right now and I don't want them to burn!" Yael calls out from his studio, the door wide open so he could hear the timer he had set up for the cookies he'd set up in the oven just half an hour earlier, less really.

He doesn't expect them to be ready, perhaps why he has gone to his studio to bring out the painting he has been working on and off since he's first moved in. It has changed in ways that are not all that hard to explain but still are a sight to behold. He's almost done with it, that painting where they all are in there, at least the version where they all look as they do now and not the olden-day version.

He listens to Quentin's echoing footsteps as they enter the kitchen, straining his ears a little. He barely hears the click of the oven door being open but he hears it thump shut a minute later. "You should come and see this, Yael, they're beautifully golden and the scent of them, oh man this is divine, do we really have to share?"

Yael laughs as he looks down at his setup. He shakes his head, puts his palette down along with his brushes and he heads off into the kitchen, knowing he'll have to wash his hands _and_ arms before he can do anything at all. How he ended up covered in paint splatters he's not exactly sure, not that he cares.

As he steps into the kitchen, the scent of freshly baked, warm cookies fills his nose and he sighs. This is one of the reasons why he loves spending time in the kitchen when he can. It hardly is his preferred method of spending time but he still loves being in the kitchen, mostly for baking. 

"Quentin, I'll have several dozens of these when they're done, I made them to be shared so yes, they'll have to be shared, even though you might think you should gobble them all down, especially while they're still steaming hot. You can have one and then you can feed me one before I wash my arms up. Did you put the second batch in?"

Once given the go-ahead, Quentin uses a small spatula to slide two of the delicious looking cookies closer to him and off the pan. He gobbles one right up, burning his tongue slightly as he goes and he sets the second one briefly to the side to give it a few second to cool so he can let Yael have it. "I did put the second batch in and those are so good I don't know that I'll be able to not eat them all, love."

Yael laughs and shakes his head. He nods towards the little timer sitting on the counter and Quentin turns it back up to twenty minutes. Then he takes the slightly, just barely, cooled cookie and Yael opens his mouth, chewing on it once Quentin dropped it past his lips. "This is tastier than I expected it. The recipe was leaving me a bit uncertain, honestly so this is a good result. I'm glad. I think, though, that I'll stick out here while they all cook since I expect I might otherwise come to find plenty missing when they all are done because someone, or even several littler someones decided they wanted to sample more than just one."

Quentin sticks his tongue out but steps away from the kitchen, knowing that if he does stay he'll be more than a little tempted to eat more than a single cookie until Yael gives him another go-ahead to essentially pig out on them.

"If they turn out to be a success, I'll just have to make a habit of baking them. I'll bake them so often you'll get sick of them and at that point I'll be able to let everyone else enjoy them as they should." Yael snickers as Quentin moves back down the hall to his own working room and Yael lets him, knowing better than to follow and ask him what he's working on.

  


The scent of cookies has filled the whole house, no room seems to be an exception and no matter where he steps, he can almost taste those cookies. As he steps into the kitchen, he notices a small plate with a handful of cookies on them and a little note.

_All yours._ Is all that is written on the note and Quentin chuckles softly, picking one of the cooled cookie and putting it into his mouth. He stretches a little, looking to the side and to Yael's closed studio door. He'll leave him to work, knowing that the large painting of everyone on their 'family' is coming along well and he figures that adding in minute details is all Yael has left to do though there are a lot of those details. He's plenty fine with that.

Half an hour later, when he's still making sure to take his time to eat those cookies left out for him, Quentin notices Yael's studio door easing open, a soft creaking sound coming from the hinges. He takes note of it, reminding himself to do something about that as he rather likes the idea of doors swinging open and closed without even the hint of a sound.

Yael steps out, arms and hands still covered in little splotches of pain. Quentin notices that there even are some in his hair and he laughs softly, shaking his head as he does. "I think we're going to have a bit of a soak, Yael. A soak and then a good wash up though we could just go with the washing up but you've got paint up in your hair. I swear at times I think you forget you have your brush in your hand and you scratch your hair. It's the only explanation I can think of."

Yael stops in the kitchen, peering at his reflection in mirror sitting above the sink. There are bits of extra colour to his hair and one particularly long streaks of bright blue that shouldn't be there. He shakes his head, amazed at his inability to keep clean when he paints. He can't understand it. "I think a shower should be enough. We'll bring in that water-safe stool and you can have a rub-a-dub-dub at my hair to get all that paint out. I honestly feel more like a steam than a soak so I think that a quick wash up before we steam should be okay?"

Quentin nods, offering one of his last saved cookies over. Yael chuckles as he takes it, murmuring a soft thank you before they start on their way towards their shared bathroom.

"I'm almost done with that big painting. All the details though, they'll take some time. The bits of shading left but the hair stands, the detail in the eyes. I have to add the piercing in Mira's ears and Agni's eyebrow. Little things that have changed since I've added everyone in. At times I feel bad that I've had to erase Zora from it but she didn't really fit anymore. I don't think she ever fit, not with how she acted around all of us. Does that make me a bad person?"

Quentin shakes his head, leaning into the shower to drop the stool in and get the water going. "She always acted as though she wasn't comfortable around us, despite that we were all like her, Armin aside, that is though he's like us in his own way. It's not like we went out of our way to make her uncomfortable, hell Eoghan did all he could to make her as comfortable as he could. She just preferred to go her own way, that's all there is to that. You shouldn't think too much about it. Let's just have ourselves a shower, all right? After that, I can show you what I've been working on, I think you're going to like it. I certainly do like it myself and I'm pretty proud of it."

"Anything you make is beautiful, Quentin. I'm sure it'll be awe-inspiring."


	22. Don't Go There

As the end of January neared and a work routine had settled back into their lives, snow decided that it didn't much care for routine, it had fallen heavily over the last few days, creating dunes of snow in the backyard. For a child, this was most likely paradise, for the twins who had grown up out on the street, so long as they were inside, this was perfect but Cyrille, with quite the playful spirit had decided that he was going exploring, on that particular day, right after work.

The dark had already settled but Eoghan had several lights installed along the upper edge of the building, all pointing into the backyard. Cyrille had compared them to floodlights before though they weren't anywhere near as bright as the ones he'd seen before, of course. He was rather certain that these lights would keep him on a safe path. After all, the whole yard was mostly flat ground, there was nothing out there for him to end up in a dangerous situation.

As he put on his boots, the twins looked at him, Agni eyeing him as if he'd gone crazy and Mira looking uncertain as could be. He played fish, his mouth opening and closing, trying to find words, anything to keep the other from going outside in all that snow but there was nothing he could find in his mind that didn't sound like a desperate request tinged with fear.

"I swear, you two should dress up and step out with me. I know you two have had it rough before, especially in the winter but you've got your coats, you have boots and gloves and scarves. It will be fun and that's whether I'm alone or with you guys." He'd wanted to go wandering through the snow for a while but just hadn't managed that much yet, not with the weather as it had been. Today had been the day. The air had been warm, not a cloud in the sky and the moon was bright, up there, just looking down into that yard.

Agni shook his head one last time, soft mutter of 'you're crazy, I swear' escaping him as he turned and walked back towards his room. He'd lessened the number of hours he played on his computer but it didn't mean he would just sit back and twiddle his thumbs while his friend went out there in the snow, he'd keep himself occupied.

"Come on, Mira. I promise you'll enjoy it. All we're going to do is walk through the snow, I won't even throw a single snowball at you."

Mira's eyes grew wide at the mention of snowballs, uncertainty flashing in his eyes as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I don't know, Cyrille. I wish you wouldn't go out there. I'm afraid."

"Mira, I swear. This is the safest thing ever. We're just walking out along the yard, we both know that the yard is flat through and through and at most we'll have snow up to the middle of our calves, to our knees and probably the middle of our thighs if we cross through the dunes but that shouldn't be necessary. I just really want you to understand that snow isn't out to kill you. Please?"

  


In the end, it was Cyrille's puppy eyes that had Mira wandering back towards his room to put on one of his heavier sweaters and his thicker pants.

"You're crazy!" Agni called out from his room as Mira stepped back into the entryway and sat down on the bench to put his high boots on. He had short, to the ankle walking boots and he had these higher boots, Eoghan had gotten them for him and his brother, saying that they would be good for trekking through the snow, they laced up all the way up under his knees.

Once his boots were on, he wrapped his scarf about his throat, shrugged on his coat and his gloves. "You promise, right?"

"I promise, Mira. Snow is harmless. It's cold but we're wearing the clothes we should when we're out there and we'll be fine. It was comfortable, that ten minutes break we took at work, in the middle of the afternoon, right?"

Mira tilted his head as Cyrille opened the door for him, thinking back on that break. He nodded. They had put on their coats and stepped outside to simply appreciate the crisp freshness of the day, it had been pretty nice.

"It'll be like that, maybe a little cooler since the sun is out but we're both wearing warmer stuff now than we were earlier."

They walked down to the bottom floor, stepping to the back of the building and then outside into the slightly chilly but not bitterly cold evening air. Above their heads, the moon's shine was bright, illuminating the grounds without even the need for any extra light. There was not a single cloud in the sky and for that simple reason, for the time being, Cyrille left the not-quite-floodlights off.

He walked a few paces away and found himself on his own. He turned back around, offering Mira his hand. The teen looked around, his eyes wide, uncertain before he looked down to that hand and curled his fingers to it. It was the only thing keeping him safe, he was certain of it.

Cyrille squeezed his fingers gently and tugged him along as they walked into the pure, untouched snow. As promised, it barely came up to the middle of his calves and his boots were keeping his feet and toes warm. He didn't feel the cold. It had nipped at him slightly when he'd first stepped out but now he found himself almost comfortable outside.

"It's beautiful up here. I bet the view is even better from up on the roof." He looked up to the sky, to the brightness of a moon he could almost imagine as full. Cyrille tugged on his hand again and Mira moved on forward again. They moved around the dunes, stepping this way and that until they were at a slight distance from the building itself, almost at the wood's edge.

"I'm not going to go any further than this, if we step into the woods, we might very well lose sight of the moon and we could honestly get lost, that's the last thing I want. It's nice outside, isn't it?"

Mira nodded, taking in their surrounding again. "It's not as bad as I thought, maybe we could sit down somewhere?"

"We could, we can wipe the snow off from around and on the swing and settle there for a bit though we probably shouldn't stay sitting outside for too long, don't want to catch a cold though I don't imagine that honestly happening. Unless you want to go up to the roof?"

Mira's eyes grew wide at the mention of going up on the roof and he grinned. He was sure the sight would be something to behold. He loved being up on the roof. At least during the other seasons, he'd yet to be up on the roof in winter, at least not out of the solarium, it was bound to be quite an experience.

"You want to lead us back to the building? Just follow our tracks, I trust you."

Mira frowned softly, looking up to his friend for a moment before he looked down to their tracks and then back up to the building. He nodded, mostly to himself and started making his way back home, not quite following their tracks but managing to not head too deeply into the snow itself. He was avoiding the dunes just fine and that was what felt important.

Once back at the door, he tugged it open and slipped inside, Cyrille following him. Mira was smiling, looking pleased with himself. It was little steps like these that seemed to make the twins go one step further into the world, that seemed to let them know that they could manage most anything they set their mind to. It was Cyrille's only goal, to make sure they discovered everything good the world had to offer.


	23. Aquarium

The knock on his door had woken him up from a slight doze. Armin's night had been very short-lived and no amount of rolling over in his bed had helped him find that ever elusive sleep that he had desperately sought to find, without ever managing that much. He didn't know what had kept him awake but it had been unpleasant. 

For a while he thought it had been the movie, that somehow it had bothered him, confused him, left some trace on his subconscious but it hadn't made sense so he'd dropped the idea. It didn't really matter all that much. He hadn't slept and that was all there was to that, he couldn't change it.

As he moved to get back on his feet, rubbing his eyes, the knock came a second time, he shook his head and stepped to his door. Opening it, he found Eoghan looking down at him, worry creasing his brow.

"Sorry, didn't sleep so well so I guess I dozed off a bit on the couch. Is there something wrong?"

This wasn't their usual meeting hour, let alone their usual meeting day, so seeing Eoghan at his door was like seeing some long lost friend who'd randomly popped back into his life after dropping off of the face of the earth.

Eoghan's frown and worry remained for a moment more before they faded off to nothing once more. He smiled, straightening as he did so. "I just thought we could spend some time together. At first I thought we could go out to buy you a few more books for your new shelves but since you're tired I think I know exactly what we should do. How about a trip to the spa?"

Armin stared for a long moment before he shook his head and leaned his weight against the frame of his door. "Out with whatever it is you're hiding, Eoghan. I don't even need to try to probe into your head to know you're hiding something from me."

Eoghan's face remained calm for several seconds before he pouted. "Drat, you saw right through me. There's this one surprise I'm preparing for you and I need access to your apartment, preferably without you in it, for a few hours up to half a day. Exhausted as you look, how about I walk you back upstairs and you can sleep in our guest room? Lex is working on commissions and he won't be out and about to bother you. You know how the bedrooms work, they block out everything and anything so if there's something nagging you, it should leave you alone just fine and you should be able to get plenty of sleep!"

"Eoghan."

"Yes Armin?"

"Nothing extravagant and nothing I don't actually need, yes?"

"It's not overly extravagant and I'm sure you'll love it. Is that fair?"

"I swear, I don't know what I'm supposed to do with you. Sleep could be nice though, I feel absolutely exhausted. I don't know if it's last night's movie or just something in my memories or even something in my room but I couldn't drift off." He sighed then, rubbing his eyes again. Eoghan looked into the apartment, shaking his head as he did. He couldn't sense anything wrong with where he stood but maybe there was something in the bedroom.

"Come on, I'll walk you up to that ever comfy-cozy bedroom so you can get some sleep and I'll have a look around your apartment to make sure it's boogeyman free. I'll also come get you when the surprise is ready, so please, just please, please, don't come back down until I've gone up to get you, okay?"

With a roll of his eyes, Armin stepped out of the apartment, carefully closing the door as he did. "All right."

  


"Now if you need anything, you know where I'm at though I'd rather you didn't. You know where most everything is in the apartment, if there's something you need that you can't find, Lex is there too and I'm sure he'll be done with his commission pieces before too long. I should be up here to get you to see the surprise before the end of the day, I promise."

At least, he hoped that would work out. He'd snuck the aquarium guys into the apartment when Armin had been at work a few days prior so they could measure and take note and set up the design before they headed out. He really wanted it to be as much a surprise as he could.

Armin nodded, seated on the edge of the bed, his crutch off to the side. He rubbed his eyes, feeling somewhat like a child who had been kept up far beyond his regular bedtime. It was a strange sensation. He felt calm however, so quiet and peaceful, as if everything that surrounded him was somewhat like a soundproof box that kept everything out.

"You sleep. I promise you, this is more than likely going to be the most restful sleep you've gotten in a whole."

With that said, Eoghan eased out of the bedroom, closed its door, looked in on Lex to let him know about Armin and disappeared back downstairs to wait for the team of workers who would transform the wall between the kitchen and the living room into an aquarium.

Armin had mentioned, after all, that company could have been nice. Fishes were low maintenance, especially these, the whole systems, the whole set up, there was nearly nothing except the absolute basic of care that would be required to take care of the fishes.

  


Late in the afternoon, with Armin settled out on the couch, the green, tie-dye blanket sitting on the back of the cushion not far from him, Eoghan stepped back into the apartment. He was bright-eyed, almost bouncing. He looked into the living room first, just to make sure and if it was at all possible, his face brightened even more at the sight of his friend.

"You look rested, at least more rested than this morning, that's great!" He laughed, walking over and Armin could tell he seemed quite pleased with whatever this surprise would turn out to be. Armin wasn't sure if he really wanted to know but there was no backing out of it and Eoghan had yet to do anything for him or give him anything he didn't actually need.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'll be. Thank you for letting me sleep in the guest room, you were right, I can't recall last I've had such a restorative sort of sleep." It had been dark and peaceful, he couldn't recall any dreams he might have had, which was for the best really.

"Great! Let's head down to see your surprise. I swear it's only half a surprise, it's one of our discussions that brought the idea up to the surface so I know it's not completely out there and I'm not crazy. Not yet."

"Not much, in any case." Armin murmured with a gently amused note as they stepped out of the apartment and into the elevator, down to the first floor where his door was slightly ajar. Not something he minded, he trusted everyone who lived in the building and he left his door unlocked unless they all stepped out. One couldn't step into the building itself without a key, or the code for the door. It was one or the other.

"You're so cruel to me, boohoo. Now, you'll just have to trust me. I want you to close your eyes and set your hand onto my arm. I will lead you safely into the apartment and to the surprise, once there, I'll let you open your eyes so you can see what it's all about, sounds good?"

"I already trust you with my life, Eoghan." He did. At the door, he closed his eyes. Eoghan took his hand and held it, carefully leading the slighter man inside and to the wall separating his living room and kitchen, a wall now filled with water and fishes and coral of all sorts.

"Okay, open your eyes."

And he did. He opened his eyes and stared, mouth hanging open just a little. Just a tiny, tiny little bit. "Wow."


	24. Surprises

"I think aliens have kidnapped Astra and replaced her with an exact copy that doesn't act the same way." Quentin's words pulled Yael out of daydreaming. He looked up to his companion, said mentioned feline curled along his shoulders and rumbling away happily.

"What makes you say that?" He made his eyes focus a little more. Astra looked as she always did, a happy ball of fur who adored playing parrot. Curled around Quentin's shoulders and rumbling away as if nothing else mattered in the world.

"I suppose I should show you more than try to explain it to you, it's rather surprising, honestly." He shook his head, moving to pull Astra from his shoulders. She made a little disgruntled noise at being moved but otherwise didn't fuss or fight. "Though actually, we should head back into the cats's room, it's the best place to check it out and you can set her up so she can do her little trick so you can see that I have nothing to do with it."

He sounded vaguely amused at this point and Yael eased to his feet, curious about whatever it was that this big surprise was supposed to be. Quentin started off towards the cats's play room, Yael following him calmly. "Usually you have little to do with most surprises the cats come up with. That is, unless you think back on the two boys taking off with your underwear and some of mine to make a nest for the kittens back then."

"Don't remind me." Quentin laughed, shaking his head at the memory. It had been just one of those things, really.

Once inside the room, he offered the feline to his companion who curled his arms about the warmly purring ball of happiness. "So what am I meant to do now?"

"Set her up on the highest spot of the cat tree."

"Quentin, you know as well as I do that she can't get down from there on her own, she never goes up there as it is anyway, what is this about?"

"Yael please, just humour me? I promise there's a reason to all this."

Yael shook his head but he stepped to the wall, leaning up on the tip of his toes to actually be able to set the slight feline down on the highest platform. It was nearly out of his reach it was so high. "Now what?"

"Now you come back to my side and we watch."

Confused but still willing to go with, for whatever the reason, Yael stepped back and waited, he watched and watched. After a few moments he was certain nothing would happen and as he took one step forward, there it came. Astra made her way down from the top of the tree. Made her way down and made it look easy as pie as she did.

Yael stared, trying to will his mind to understand what he had just seen. "Did she just get down on her own? She's never done it before, always meowed at us pitifully until we got her down."

Shrugging, Quentin went back to the cat tree, he didn't pick Astra up on the way as he did, no, he merely stretched on his toes and put one of her favourite toys at the top. Once that was done, he stepped back away. She climbed up after a bare few seconds and was back down nearly as quickly.

"I think we might be able to try the garden trick again. From the start of the calendar but that might just work out and we may be able to have them out up there with you when you're working." It almost seemed too good to be true. It made no sense, no cat could learn to climb down places overnight, though it had been more than simply 'overnight' but still. It was more than a little surprising.

"I don't know, Quentin. Cat trees are one thing, they're made to be climbed on, real trees are different, what if she gets caught again? I have no issues about getting her back down but I don't know that I want to." Yael shook his head, watching Astra for a moment longer. "I guess we could give it another try but I just don't know. I suppose we can't know unless we try it. We can give it another shot in a few weeks if she's still showing signs of this not being a fluke, somehow."

He rubbed his eyes then, Quentin nodded and settled one hand to Yael's waist, leading him back out of the play room and to the living room once more.

  


"Earlier, when you were wanting to show me Astra's newly developed climbing technique, you said aliens had taken her and replaced her with a not-quite right copy. Why did you say that?"

Settled side by side, sitting in front of the still warmly crackling fireplace, there was quiet music playing in the background as Yael closed his eyes, trying not to think too much about things. His mind had spent most of the day trying to figure out how it had happened and he still hadn't managed to understand it.

Beneath his head, he felt Quentin as he rolled his shoulders gently. "It's just one of those things, I've heard people say while I was traveling. They usually say that when someone they know starts acting strange or in a way that's really different from how they might usually do things."

Yael shifted his head, looking up somewhat though he was so close it was a moot point to even open his eyes, he merely tilted his head back slightly, still leaning against that shoulder. He remained that way for a couple of heartbeats before he settled his head back down once more. "I guess that makes sense, in a way."

"Humans are strange."

"Not all of them and I know you think most of them are idiots though you've mellowed out a lot since I've moved in. It makes me feel warm inside, like I've actually done something right with my life, like I've done something to actually deserve being on this planet for."

"Yael, don't do that." Quentin's words were low, barely above a murmur as he hugged his companion a little closer to his side.

"Do what?"

"This thing where you start talking like you believe that you don't belong on this planet and that you think you need to prove yourself. That's not the case, plus, if it somehow were the case, you've proven your worth more often than I can count, I'm here right now because you're with me and it's the only thing that counts."

"Thank you, Quentin." Yael sighed, a soft, tired note as he relaxed where he sat. He was as close as he could get away with, without changing their position and he didn't really feel like moving much. "Thank you for just being you, for not letting me sink into my moments of self-pity though I know there are days where I have more of those than I should. At times I feel broken and I think the only reason I still have all my pieces is because you're with me. You're my glue."

"So you sniff glue?" A soft snicker escaped Quentin and Yael prodded him in the ribs with a roll of his eyes.

"Thank you for ruining the moment. I swear at times." Yael was doing all he could to not start laughing, the moment was hardly ruined though it was still just one of those things.

"You adore me for it anyway." That was the truth, as pure a truth as it would ever be. There were no other ways of looking at it.

"I think I was put on this very planet so we could meet and so we could learn more about the world together. Not that I really believe in things happening because of fate, I do want to believe that certain things do happen for a reason and that reason is something or other. My mind is done trying to be romantic, I'm too comfortable to be mushy."

Their silence was gone, laughed, the good, relaxing kind replaced it though before long they both were quiet again, content to relax in one another's soothing presence. This was all either one of them could ask for.


	25. Community

"Alexis?"

The tall demon turns slightly, looking down to the blue and black haired youth as he stands next to him. He still does his best to respond to his full name though it sounds so formal to him. He smiles however, a soft chuckle escaping him as he realizes he hadn't noticed the teen coming up to him.

"Yes, Mira?" He can hear the rest of their little group going about not far from them, in the adjoining rooms, talking, walking, placing dishes on the table, preparing for their meal, he tunes most of it out and focuses on their group's youngest member. It seems strange, the oldest and youngest having a discussion, though perhaps not all that strange.

"Back then, before these cities and these large buildings and this technology, back when demons really didn't have to hide about who they were," he pauses on that point, frowning softly as he does, "there was a time when demons didn't have to hide, right?"

Lex knows this isn't the primary question, that somehow Mira has deviated from what he was wishing to ask. "There was a time when we, demons, didn't have to hide. We were accepted by society as it was."

"Okay, back then, during that time, did people live in split communities or was everyone together, helping everyone else and working with everyone else?" His eyes are wide and curious. Lex feels the urge to run his fingers through Mira's growing hair to muss it up gently, so he does.

"Well, some demons were comfortable enough to mix in completely with the humans, I think that part of our civilization hasn't really changed, Mira. There will always be those who prefer to stick to their own kind and those who feel more comfortable mingling. Where I was born, so long ago, the village was pretty close to a relatively big community. Demons and humans alike worked together, ate together, bathed together. People saw no harm in who we were and they didn't use us for our gifts. We helped them willingly where we could. There were no slaves and no masters. At least not in our village and we were one of the few settled this way, sadly."

He shakes his head then, looking out the window as he does. He sighs and tries not to think too much on the past he has lived through. It was a very long time ago. 

Mira, still standing at his side, nods, as if that was all he had wanted to hear. "Thank you, Alexis."

"You're welcome." He pauses, looking back once more as the bustling sound of movement is letting up somewhat, their table is almost ready for the meal, he's certain, "you know you can call me Lex, right?"

Mira looks out the window again, gazing out, as if trying to find the right answer before he cranes his neck to look back up to the elder demon. "I know, I just don't feel comfortable calling you that yet. I know you but I don't really _know_ you. Maybe in a decade or so more."

The thought amuses Lex in ways he hadn't expected. It is so sweet in its own way, this kind of respect. A lot of teens in this day and age no longer have that form of respect for their elders. "Thank you for that, Mira. Come, let's go see if they need any help for the final few things that might need brought onto the table and then we'll eat."

With that, Mira turns and heads into the other room, to join his brother and their friend. Lex follows him, just a few paces behind.

  


"Should I get a penny?"

Next to him, at the door as they watch their friends walk back down the stairs or take the elevator down, Eoghan stands, hands lost in the long sleeves of his shirt. Lex blinks at him a moment before he turns away and closes the door with a soft yawn. As it always is, the dinner tickled the tastebuds of everyone present and the movie was appreciated by everyone.

"I'm just thinking, that's all, really."

"Okay, I'm going to have to up that bid and make it a whole dollar, you've been thinking since before we all sat down for our meal so it has to be some pretty deep thinking. What did you and Mira talk about? You two were the only ones not about to help with the table, not that it was necessary, we had plenty of folks almost walking on one another's toes." He laughs softly, those ever blue eyes looking up to his companion, trying to catch those green ones.

"He just asked me about how things were when I was younger, with demons not feared by humans but that's not really what gets me, I think what gets me is how much he seems to respect me. Everyone I work with, when I'm dealing with the law side of my job, respects me, it's earned because they know what I can do and that I've yet to ever lose a case but otherwise, when you meet up with people nowadays, it's like there's no respect taught to anyone anymore." He shakes his head, stepping away from the door and deeper into their home.

"Mira respects everyone. I suppose I should give Zora that much, she taught them how to respect others."

"I don't know that Zora has taught them much of anything, honestly. Not when you really think about it. She refused to teach them the language, so they could hardly talk or interact with anyone, they couldn't learn respect that way. It's innate, or it's in spending time with Armin or even Cyrille-"

"Or us, Lex." Eoghan steps into their bedroom, moving to sit on the edge of their bed as he watched his lover round the bed to his side, tugging his shirt off as he goes.

"That could be too. Thing is, he refuses to call me Lex. Says he doesn't know me well enough, that maybe in a decade or so, he'd feel as though he might know me well enough to be able to call me Lex and not Alexis."

"They all call you Alexis though, I'm the only one who shortens your name."

"I wish they all would, it feels strange." He sits on the edge of the bed on his side of it, looking out of their window.

"Or you know, you could ask them to call you by the name you were given when you were born."

Lex blinks and turns his gaze to Eoghan, eyebrows lifted in amusement. "So you'd rather they call me Lexius instead of Alexis?"

"You still were Lexius when I met you. You changed your name to Alexis when it seemed a more common name that most people wouldn't really ask any questions about."

"I had to, Eoghan. When I first left law and then came back to it a couple of decades later, when I told them my name was Lexius, I had to come up with the excuse that in our family, it was a really important name. At least with Alexis, I don't stand out so much." He laughs, shaking his head as he stands and goes about undressing so he can slip in between the covers. He feels absolutely drained and he knows it only is because he's had himself several last minutes commission to finish before their friends came in.

"I know, I know. Aside the point, I know, you're more comfortable with being called Lex but you can't force anyone to anything. If they want to call you that, they will on their own time and that's all there really is to it. It's sweet that Mira respects you that much though. I know they all respect us in their own way but Mira seems to be the one who shows it the most. As parents, it proves we're doing something right."

Lex laughs and shakes his head. "We're not parents, Eoghan and we both know this."

"Details! Now come to bed and cuddle. I deserve cuddling for managing to cook perfect soufflés that didn't deflate."

"You always manage perfect soufflés that never deflate, love, but I can cuddle all you want. I don't think our relationship would be the same if I wasn't so willing to cuddle you whenever you want me to."

"Are you complaining?" Eoghan, finally nude, slips between the bed sheets, shivering at their temperature and grumbling about it for a moment. When Lex settles in next to him, he scoots instantly over to steal some of the other's body heat.

"Not complaining one little bit, I promise."

"Good."


	26. Aftermath

Curled miserably on the couch, Agni tries to ignore the churning of his stomach. He looks at the empty container of sour candy with reproach, as though it had ruined his whole life before he closes his eyes with another groan. He feels pathetically ill and it is most unpleasant.

This is a first in his life and he wishes he would never have to go through it again. He knows there is nothing he can do about it at that moment but live through it and learn from his mistakes.

Not far from him, he hears his brother and their friend talk together, their voices are low, whispered notes that he can't focus on. He breathes in and out slowly through his nose, not much caring to breathe through his mouth else he throw up again in the trash bin they've left not far from him.

"What happened, exactly?" Cyrille looks over to the curled teenager before he looks away. They have wrapped Agni in a blanket and left a bin next to him, in case he feels the need to throw up again. He doubts there is much left to throw up as he's rather certain that all the sour candy he'd eaten has already come back up.

"He had bought the container of that sour candy he loves so much in order to celebrate, we went through our exams for history, the last ones we were meant to go through, I passed mine with flying colours but he failed his. Just by a few points but he failed and Eoghan said he'd have to take it again. Cue him stuffing his face with his candy to forget the bad news."

"Mira, I was gone for all of half an hour, you're telling me he ate through all of his candy in half an hour?"

"Twenty minutes, I'd say."

"No wonder he's sick. You want to keep an eye on him while I head back down to the store? I know what to get him, he needs to at least keep hydrated and in a way that'll stay down."

Mira shrugs gently, a wry smile finding his lips though he sighs and closes his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck as he does. "I have nowhere else to be though I was thinking of asking Eoghan or Armin for a miracle remedy if there's any. Just come back soon, please."

"I'll be in and out, I'll head to the closest corner store and once I'm back and trying to get him to drink the stuff, you can head up and check in with Eoghan to see if he might know something though I don't think there's much we can do, else than keep him hydrated."

  


"He what?" Eoghan frowns as he lets Mira in, closing the door behind him and walking him to the kitchen.

"When you brought us our test results back, he started eating his way through that big container of sour candy he's bought. Now I'm pretty sure he's thrown it all back up already but he's miserable and he can barely take a few steps without feeling dizzy and wanting to throw up again. Cyrille got him some sports drink of sorts, he said it was to help him stay hydrated but I wanted to check with you to know if there was anything we could make for him or give him that would help him along."

"That is one poor coping mechanism." Muttering, Eoghan looks through his herbs and spices, knowing he might have something he can put together to at least help a little though he knows it won't be much. It could soothe the stomach enough, at least. "I can probably manage to prepare him a mix of herbs to steep in hot water, a tea that could help his stomach settle down. I would feel better knowing it came from Simon at the shop but that would take longer to get to him and back, then steep it all up than it is for me to try to recall the ingredients. Can you get some water heating on the stove? We'll prepare it up here and you can bring it down to him once it's cooled."

Mira nods, filling the kettle with water and setting it on the cooking top to heat up. With that done, he steps back and out of the way as he only watches Eoghan. The man digs through his spices, most of them Mira still has never heard off and he puts little quantities of this and that into a tea bag.

After five or so minutes, he nods and closes the bag, sealing it with its little string to pull the top closed. He sets it in a large pitcher and Mira blinks at him, opening his mouth to ask his question but closing it when Eoghan chuckles softly and shakes his head. "I'm preparing more than less, that way you'll have extra to give him throughout the day. About a cup of the stuff should be enough for a few hours and it can be taken hot or cold, it's what's in the bag that helps."

Eoghan knows it's not perfect, far from, Simon would have known better but the herbal shop is nearly at the other side of the town and it would have taken them too long to get there.

Once the water is boiling, Eoghan fills the pitcher up to the brim, drops the tea bag in it and sets a five minute timer on the microwave, letting it count down, second by second until it beeps. Once it does, he pulls the bag out and sits in on a plate to the side. He puts a cloth around the pitcher and offers it over. "It is going to be piping hot but it should cool down a little bit by the time you've gone back down. Just fill in a glass three-quarter full for him and have him drink it up. He might not like the taste but he has no choice if he wants to get better, hear me?"

"Thank you, Eoghan."

"You're welcome, now get."

  


"That stuff smells pretty bad." Cyrille leans over the still somewhat steaming glass of tea, scrunching up his nose as the smell of it. Mira shrugs gently, leaving the pitcher on the counter to allow it to finish cooling down. He then takes the glass to his brother, kneeling down next to him.

Agni looks at him, misery all over his face, he scoots up just slightly, barely, so he can at least be mostly vertical and he curls his fingers around the warm glass. 

"This is going to taste pretty bad but you have to drink it all down. Eoghan said it will help your stomach feel better. I have more and you'll likely be needing more throughout the day but only some hours apart. It all depends on how you'll feel." Mira sighs but steps back and away, letting his brother sip slowly at the cup. He utters not a single word but it is written all over his face that whatever is in there tastes terrible.

Cyrille watches from a distance, trying not to feel guilty. He is the one who helped the twins discover these candies. Of course, Mira cares little for them but Agni's adoration for the sour little bites have obviously turned to a bad thing. He wonders if the teen will ever eat another sour candy again after this little issue, however. He shakes his head at the thought, hoping that Agni has learned his lesson well enough that he will leave those candies be, at least for a while yet.

When his glass is empty, Agni sets it down, feeling his stomach already settling down somewhat, despite the terrible taste in his mouth. His throat no longer burns from all the throwing up he has done. He cares little for what little he has ingested but he can understand natural medicine to a point and knows it's for his own good.

"I'll help you study for the next test, Agni. I looked at your test answers and it's mostly a few numbers you've switched around, stuff you know but probably didn't notice were written jumbled up." Mira's voice is soft but Agni ignores him for the time being, not even wanting to think about the test for the time being. He knows he didn't fail by much but still he failed and it annoys him to no end.


	27. Raindrops

Spring was finally beginning to settle in. The snow was melting little by little, uncovering things that might have been lost within its wet and cold arms for the past few months. On this one particular day, the first show of spring's return was the rain. Armin had woken up to the little platter of raindrops falling against his windows.

To him, it had been a beautiful sight, a sign that warmth was returning to their lives and that their chances of another snowfall was lessening with every passing day. He had no issues with snow, he loved it to a point but when there was enough slow that he had to struggle to get through it with his crutch, there just was too much for him to love it anymore.

  


As they all walked into the library from the backdoor, Mira lingered outside, his face turned up to the sky, his face set to elation as still cold raindrops fell and hit him. He laughed and Cyrille had to step back outside to snag his wrist to drag him inside. "It's still cold as can be for a spring day out there, Mira, we had to deal with your brother being sick almost two weeks ago, I'd rather you not get sick too though I know you're a pretty quiet and calm sick from what I've heard."

Mira pouted at him somewhat but went inside with the tugging. He wiped his face clean and dry of the water and his feet of the dirt. There were mud puddles everywhere at this point, between the snow melting and the rain now adding up to it. The last thing he wanted was to track mud into their beautiful library.

They had more visitors now than he could ever recall seeing during the regular hours, it was warming to know that this place was better in every way. It was warmer, it had more room, the lights were brighter, there just was nothing negative about it all except that some people had mentioned that it was a little further out of their way but that they appreciated all the good changes enough that it wasn't such a bad thing.

"Had to drag him inside again, huh? Just you wait, this summer, we'll have to drag him inside whenever it rains and he'll be soaked to the bone and you'd think he'd have just gotten done getting laid for how he acts." Agni snickered softly, Mira blinking at him and rolling his eyes.

"It's not as though you'd know how it feels to feel pleasure this way, Agni. I'm pretty sure you still haven't even learned to give yourself a hand in the morning or in the afternoon or whenever your body seems to request it."

"I have too jerked off before."

Cyrille could only look between the siblings, amused in ways he couldn't begin to explain. This was hardly the kind of discussion to have in a library and he could only be glad that they weren't actually opened to their visitors yet. "Honestly guys, you're having a fight about who knows how to jerk off best? That is so last season."

He laughed, the sound soft and low before he walked off to head to the front so they could put all of their coats away. The twins exchanged a look, stuck their tongue out to one another and followed him to the front where Armin was already looking through the books that had been dropped in overnight.

"Now that you three are done talking about I'm not sure what way at the back over there, I'm sure one of you wouldn't mind helping me sort through these books while the other two go about unlocking out front doors, yes?"

  


The day went by without much of a hitch following the opening of the doors, visitors came in, some went to the computers, a few parents dropped their kids off into the children's area while they sought out the books they had come from, some settled into the reading sections and others simply came, found their books, stopped by the front desk and stepped back out into the grey day.

Mira kept their earlier discussion out of his mind as he placed books back where they belonged and made sure that others he found in places they weren't meant to be went back to their own shelves as well. The work was routine in its own way but he didn't mind. He could work without worrying that his fingers might try to fall off or that the heat might get so bad he'd feel like fainting because of it. The place was beautiful, there was low, almost inaudible classical music playing from placed speakers all over the place, it was so soft it could almost be forgotten about.

Agni didn't step anywhere near him, keeping to his side of the library. He was brooding somewhat, not much caring to talk about his private life in the way they had while at the back of the library. Perhaps it just had felt too unfamiliar, this sudden step into a world he hadn't really tried to discover yet. Of course he had lied to cover himself. He didn't much see any need to touch himself yet though there had been mornings when he had woken up hard. He'd only ignored it, turning to the aid of a cold shower to get it to go away. He really was only waiting for the right time to try, that was all.

He doubted Mira had tried anything either, maybe he was only putting on airs so their friend wouldn't think them slow to discover that side to life. He didn't know and he didn't care much. Eventually he did let go of the whole thing, focusing instead of checking books over and putting them where they belonged.

  


As they closed the doors, that afternoon, the rain had stopped, replaced by a fine mist that shrouded their surroundings in a pale cloak. Cyrille drove them back home, careful of where he went since he couldn't see too far ahead of himself. It was just one of those things he didn't care much about when spring came around. Spring and autumn both had days of mist turning to heavy fog that made getting anywhere impossible as he couldn't even see his hands in front of his face. It was nowhere near that bad at that point but he was glad when he parked the car in the building's driveway.

"You guys go up first without me, I need to help Armin bring in a box of book into his apartment and I'll be up once that's in." Cyrille stepped around the car and to the back, he popped open the trunk and hefted the box out of it, moving towards the building itself. Armin was not far from him but it was Mira who opened up the door for him.

Cyrille stepped inside and Mira stepped out of the way, holding the door open so both Armin and Agni could step inside as well. Once all were within, he released the door. Cyrille stepped down the hallway, Armin a few paces behind him and Agni was turning to head up the stairs. Mira looked between the three a moment before he followed his brother up.

"I'm sorry for this morning, Agni. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. My mouth went off before I could really think it through." Mira stopped at the top of the stairs, curling his fingers around his brother's wrist to stop him as well so they could talk. He knew he could have waited until they were in the apartment but he felt bad, had felt bad since lunch had rolled around and it had weighed on his mind since then.

Agni blinked at him, looking down to his caught wrists though he didn't try to pull them away. He knew he couldn't be mad at his brother, not for long. The longest had only been a few days and it had been back there, when Mira had decided that they needed their own separate rooms.

"It's okay. You caught me by surprise. This is just one of those things I hadn't honestly really given any thought about and I didn't feel comfortable talking about it where we were. I guess, if you want to, we could talk about it tonight though, I mean, it's not a subject I can imagine brothers talking about but we've never really hidden anything from one another before so it wouldn't be such a bad discussion to have, would it?" He shrugged, a little uncomfortable by what he was offering, what he was asking.

Mira tilted his head to the side, he released his brother's wrist and enfolded him in his arms, hugging him tightly. Only a heartbeat passed before Agni was returning that hug, a fierce hold on his brother. They only parted ways after Cyrille had made it up the stairs and stopped next to them, a look of worry settled into his face. The twins shook their head a moment, resting their forehead together.

"We've been drifting apart for a while, I think it's time for a good and long discussion about where we are in our lives. We should do that more often to this kind of thing doesn't happen again." Agni murmured those words before they straightened.

"We're fine, Cyrille, I promise. I think we just both realized we've been a bit distant to one another lately and we found out how to fix it, I promise." 

"I just don't want you guys to not be friends anymore, that's all I honestly want. I need the three of us together."

"We're not going anywhere, are we, Mira?"

"Nowhere at all that isn't right here with the two of you. Let's head in, I'm starving, we can have ourselves something to eat and then we can sit down and just talk and then talk some more."

"Sounds perfect."

"Do you guys want to do this with just the two of you and should I make myself sparse?" Cyrille headed back to their door, opening it for them as he did. They stepped inside, quiet for a few moments. Mira shook his head first.

"I think we can have this discussion all three of us together."


	28. To Be Free

The snow was gone. They were free of the snow and it was a wonderful sensation. It had melted all within a couple of days though they had been days of surprising heat and Yael briefly worried that this would be a hint of the summer they would be facing. If the heat was settling in now, it would be hellish during the summer.

There wasn't much he could do about it so he tried to let it be. Instead, he focused on clearing out what was left of old leaves and dirt that had accumulated in the catio. There had been snow in it for most of the winter, not much of it but enough that the cats had mostly refused to step outside except on a few rare occasions, Areli and Lavi always leading that particular ball.

Astra still climbed up and down places on her own, that 'fluke' hadn't been a fluke at all and Quentin still repeated, now and again, that she had been taken by aliens and replaced. Yael couldn't complain, they had slowly worked through their set up steps to try to see how the cats handled being up in his garden and it had worked out beautifully. Now he left the door open whenever he was up there, he was joined now and again by one cat, two, three or even seven. When he was done, he shook the tin of treats he kept by the door and they all came running. He counted them out and closed the door.

It was once he was down on the ground floor that he gave them treats, since the tin he kept by the door no longer had treats to it, it had been filled with bits and pieces that sounded like treats when he shook it, it did the job.

  


Quentin was looking over their yards, taking note of where they might need to make sure the ground hadn't soaked in too much wetness and would cave in, in some ways, when they walked over it. It had happened the year before, one particular area had soaked in so much of the water from the melting snow that when they had stepped there, he had sunk in nearly to his knees, it had required Alexis's help to get him out of it. They'd fenced it off until they could find a solution.

As he looked the yard over, he noticed something by the little flag Yael had set out, the marker he had placed for that one tree he'd tried so hard to get growing but hadn't managed.

"Yael, come out here for a second." He called out. Yael looked up from the cat tree he was slightly straightening and stepped back inside so he could take the proper door to head outside. He walked up to Quentin, standing by his side before he looked to where that finger was pointing.

He walked over and there, as though it was waiting for him, a little sprout. The tree had broken free of its seed and out of the wet soil. It wasn't tall but oh it was there and it was wonderful. Yael knelt down next to it, not daring to touch it just yet, not wanting to chance it. He marvelled at it for a long moment. "I'd completely forgotten about this!"

Excitement filled him as he stretched back to his feet and ran back to Quentin. His eyes were bright and filled with happiness. Quentin laughed, hugging Yael as the slightly younger demon pressed up against his side. "Oh it's growing, it's going to be perfect where it's at, I'm just going to let it keep going."

It was the best of options as far as he was concerned, it really was.

He looked back a moment and laughed. "It is a day for rediscovering freedom, here comes the gang."

Quentin looked back, chuckling as the cats began to file out into the catio, as if they'd never been there before. They went to the edges, sniffed about, climbed up the cat trees, wandered along the platforms as if they were discovering it all over again.

"At first, you know, I was afraid they'd never use the catio at all. It took forever to entice them to head out there."

"True, Areli and Lavi taught them how to, though. These two love being outside this way. I'm sure we'll have wet cat tracks everywhere in the house for a little while." Yael snickered, still settled closely against Quentin's side. This day was turning out to be absolutely beautiful, despite that it was grey and cloud-covered. He didn't care. His tree was growing, the snow was gone and the cats were enjoying the fresh air. He couldn't have asked for anything else.

  


"We should probably close some of the windows." Quentin murmured from his spot on the couch where he had been reading. In the distance, thunder rumbled and the sky was now loaded with dark storm clouds.

Yael looked up from the bit of sculpting he'd been doing. Just a little thing he had set out on their low table as he sat on the floor, small bits and pieces of this and that scattered everywhere near him. "I guess we should. I wish there was an automated system for this kind of thing, you know? The windows open when it's a certain temperature outside, they close under a certain temperature, they open depending on the humidity and close when it's too humid and when it's raining."

"That'd be one way to live but I think that would take out the joy we get from making sure all of the windows are closed." He snickered as he put a bookmark to his page and closed his book. He eyed Yael a moment, those fingers covered in what looked like sculpting clay. He shook his head and went about their home, closing the windows he knew had been opened. There weren't that many yet. It would take him more time in the summer, he knew.

As he returned, he found his seat taken by Areli. He picked up the cat, set him down on the other couch cushion and sat down, picking his book up again. "At least, we know that if any of the plants had been in need of watering, they'll have plenty more."

"I'm sure the plants didn't need much water, with all that snow that's now done melting, they had all they needed. A little more won't hurt. We can't exactly control rain as it is."

"Well, not unless your name is Mira and I don't know that he can control the rain as it falls. I imagine he could but that's just one of those things."

"What do you think?" Yael held up a small sculpture, a little man with white feathered wings at his back. Quentin frowned at it as his mind tried to tell him something he wasn't sure he understood.

"It's lovely, who is it meant to represent?"

"Eoghan."

"Eoghan?"

"I don't know why, at times when I dream about him, he comes to me looking like this, with beautifully white feathered wings. I just don't understand it. They fit him though, like he's meant to have them. What if they're his mark? I mean you have your tail and I'd love to see it, by the way, I have, I don't know what I have. I think the twins mentioned having horns and so does Alexis. Eoghan has never mentioned what his mark is, it could be those. My dreams haven't often led me wrong." 

He shrugged as Quentin studied the little man a bit more closely. The features did resemble Eoghan's own, the wings were surprisingly detailed. They could have fit. Eoghan never really had mentioned what his mark was meant to be or what it was at all. It was surprising enough. He knew that those who were born in their family, those who knew about their gifts from birth, usually were aware of their gifts. 

He had been taken from his parents had birth, he'd discovered his gift and his mark through an accident. Yael had spent his life in an orphanage and Quentin knew that they still weren't even sure as to what his gift really was so it was natural that they didn't know exactly what his mark might be just the same. It didn't change much in his life, really.

"It's beautiful, Yael. You have no idea how jealous I am of your talent on most days."

"Thank you."


	29. Strange Children

"I don't get these kids." Agni, sitting on the bench at the edge of the park, looks on as several children, almost a dozen really, run around the park, jumping into mud puddles before crouching down to gather that mud and fling it around.

"They're a little strange, I give you that." Cyrille, sitting besides him, tries to remember if he's ever liked the idea of playing in the mud. He's aware that mud-baths are supposed to be good for the skin but there's also the fact that it's not just every day mud that folks do use for that kind of thing.

"They're just kids having fun?" Mira isn't even looking his face is upturned to the sun, his eyes are closed and he's relaxing where he's at. The day is warm though it still requires a light jacket.

"They're throwing mud at one another, Mira. I don't know what's so fun about that. Whoever their parents are, I don't seem them around, I mean, I guess they could be around but I don't see a single adult anywhere around these kids. There's this one guy standing at the edge of the park and he's been watching them but that's it."

"Maybe he's their caretaker. Maybe they're kids from an orphanage or one of those families that take in other people's kids when they can't take care of them themselves."

"Foster homes?"

"Yeah."

"I guess they could be but I don't think they're from an orphanage, too well dressed and I don't even know that we have an orphanage here in Dunkerque." Cyrille shrugs and cringes as one of the kid flings some mud in their direction. It lands several feet away but he feels no comfort in thinking they might just start throwing the stuff at strangers they don't know because they feel like it.

Mira finally looks down from his sunning position, he notices the mud splat not far from them and then he looks between his brother and friend. "I think they're getting comfortable with the situation, how about we find somewhere else to lounge at? We could have stayed home and enjoyed the sun from the roof, why didn't we?"

Agni rolls his eyes though he laughed and he holds up his mostly empty smoothie glass. "We went out for something refreshing to drink, remember?"

"Oh, right." Mira looks down next to his feet on the ground, his own empty glass sits there, he shakes his head with a soft snort. "Forgot about that."

"That's because you drank it all down like an idiot who'd been out in the desert for who knows how long without any water." Agni snickered as he stretched to his feet, he stepped over the low chain that hung barely to his knees and stepped out of the park. Cyrille followed suit, Mira moving to their side, right as a mud ball splattered against the back of the bench they'd been occupying. 

"I think we moved just in time." Cyrille shook his head, not much caring for the idea of being struck by mud balls. "It's a shame we can't enjoy being outdoor in parks without being afraid that unruly kids will throw stuff at us just because they feel like it. I suppose it's in how I was raised but I never threw shit like that at strangers, just for the hell of it."

He shakes his head and drops his empty smoothie glass in a recycling bin as they walk passed one, Mira does the same and Agni drinks in the last few sips of his before he does as well.

"So where do we head now?"

"I'm itching for a swim."

"Mira, you're always itching for a swim but for once I think I might not actually mind, I think having ourselves a bit of a swim could be nice and we'd be safe away from mud-throwing children." Agni stretches, his arms held high above his head as he does so. He groans softly as he feels something pop along his back and sigh.

"So we head home?" Cyrille chuckles, things had been going much more smoothly since they all had talked. Just sat down in the living room, on the floor, knees touching and they had talked about everything and nothing. Brought up how they felt about their current situation, discussed worries and other things that had surfaced in their minds, it had done them some good.

"We head home."

  


"I'm honestly glad you guys have this pool, you have no idea. I love swimming, Magali would take me swimming everywhere she could when we were out and traveling the world. Even if our parents had planned other things for us, she'd take at least one day out of our trip and we'd go swimming wherever we could. The hotel pool, the nearest lake or river, it was so wonderful." Cyrille sighs softly at the memories. He knows now that with his sister settled in Spain, he'll see her less often but it doesn't bother him. It will make the visits all the more important and wonderful.

Mira pulls him out of his thoughts as he jumps into the pool, splashing both Cyrille and Agni as he does. Agni blinks, looking down at the little drops of water as they run on down his legs. "If I'd wanted to be wet, Mira, I'd have gone swimming, you know? Oh wait."

He laughs, as though his job is the funniest thing in the world. He slips into the water much more smoothly and lets himself float on his back. He swims better now than he had before though he still isn't all that comfortable by the idea of being in the deep end. He leaves that for Mira who is an absolute fish while in the water.

Cyrille joins the twins, sighing at the warmth of the pool. The day above them, beyond the panes of the solarium is bright and clear, a few clouds in the sky but they are rare. It is a beautiful day. Too cold to be out swimming in outdoor pools and that is why he appreciates his life now. It feels like every little detail was taken into account and he can get away with doing things during certain seasons that he couldn't while he still lived at his house.

From the side, not unseen but mostly left alone, Armin watches the trio swim. He smiled lightly, having waved them in when they had stopped in the doorway upon spotting him. The pool wasn't a private area and he would not have kept them out. Armin knows that he swims poorly but it doesn't stop him from appreciating a bit of covered sun. He knows he's mainly safe from sunburns where he's at but he can still lounge calmly in a chair and have some of that wonderful sun on his skin without anyone judging him for how he looks.

He thanks Eoghan in his heart every time he comes into a situation like this one. His shorts reveal his legs, both of the, the 'good' one and the 'bad' one. He feels no shame in letting them be seen, at least by those he now calls his family. This is not something he ever could have managed, or ever will manage with anyone else. Eoghan is the one who keeps on telling him that he has nothing to hide and that he should feel no shame for having been born looking somewhat different from the rest of the world. He's unique, not a monster and that is all there is to him.

He listens to the twins as they splash one another, Cyrille not far from them and he sighs, it is an absolutely content sound. He closes his eyes, letting the heat of the day wash over him and the pleasant happiness warm him inside. This is a kind of life he knows he never would have had if Eoghan hadn't accidentally woken up his gift and even if an opportunity to go back in time presented itself, he would not take it.

Yes, he still misses Andoni on some days but the ache is no longer a gaping hole in his heart or his soul. This life is good as it is now.


	30. What You See

He couldn't really remember the exact moment he had started working on this portrait. For its size alone, he figured the term 'mural' was best fitting but that wasn't right either. It was on a large canvas, thus not a mural and it wasn't simply a painting of one person from the shoulders up so a portrait wasn't right either. He had no terms for it and it didn't really matter. What mattered was that he was done.

He looked at it from all possible angles and he couldn't find anything that might have seemed wrong or missing with it. The more he had worked on it, the more he was afraid he was doing too much but now that he looked at it, now that he saw it in the clear light of day as it poured into his studio, it was perfect.

Yael looked down to his paint covered arms and laughed. This wasn't new. This was as far from new as it could ever had been possible. Working on this particular painting had left him with paint everywhere on his person, from his arms, to his face and up in his hair. He shook his head and wiped his hands clean on his pants, those were as stained as the rest. He opened the door to his studio and looked briefly out to see if he could spot his companion.

"Quentin?" He called out, voice thoughtfully quiet, almost afraid the other demon might have been busy in his own work room.

From the kitchen, the blond head peeked out, curiosity settled clearly into that face. Yael's own brightened and he grinned. He almost waved his arms but managed to keep himself standing as still as he could manage. It wasn't much, he was nearly bouncing on his toes. "Come see!"

Quentin, curiosity piqued even more, wiped his hands on his apron, having been in the middle of preparing some broth, and stepped out of the kitchen, to Yael's studio and stepped inside once the other moved to the side. He didn't have to wonder long about what he was supposed to look at, the painting was right there, almost life-size, almost. He stared at it for a long while, his mouth hanging slightly open at the sight.

"Yael that is so beautiful." It was. As far as he was concerned, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. "Want me to see if we can gather everyone in for a while after supper? I bet I can tempt most of them with the offer of hot tea, coffee or hot cocoa with some of those too delicious cookies you've made lately. I know we still have plenty of them."

Quentin was rather pleased with himself, he'd managed to not eat his way through all of said cookies though it had been so very, absolutely tempting.

"Would you do that? I really want all of them to see it. I could show it to them Friday when we all get together but I don't really want to bring it outside and to Eoghan's place just for that."

"I'll call them, don't worry. I'll call Eoghan and he can see about everyone else. Why don't you have a shower, you're colourful again today. I'll call while you shower and we can set it out in the family room once we're both done with our current tasks and set it on the couch. It'll be just perfect there. After that we'll have to figure out where we're putting it."

"I'm almost done with the smaller one too, the one with the older type of clothes. I tried to stick with the clothes I imagine everyone wearing when they were younger and preferably from where they were born. It's not as clashing as I thought it would be." He laughed again, looking down to his arms. He really was covered, this time.

"I can't wait to see it. Go on, get washed up, if I finish with the broth and the call before you're done, I'll head in to help you scrub yourself clean."

  


The painting looked beautiful in their family room, sitting, for the time being, on the couch. There was a wide open space above it, right on that wall though it would have taken a bit more time than they could have spared right then to set it up. Later, they could hang it up and be reminded of the beauty that was their family, though only two of them blood-related, every time they stepped into that room.

Yael fidgeted, wringing his hands together as he waited and paced. Quentin had left him be for the time being, knowing that nervousness was more than likely to abound and there wasn't much he could do about it. Yael needed the approval of their friends as far as this painting was concerned and it was out of his hands and into theirs.

Not long after they had set the painting up on its temporary resting spot, they came, all together, at once. Wearing light coats and not even the hint of a scarf. The weather had warmed significantly in the past few weeks and just two days away from the solstice, it was easy to see that spring was in the air.

"I'm grateful that you've all come here. When I called Eoghan, I didn't really tell him why I wanted all of you here, why we, both of us," he motioned to Yael who was joining them, still looking absolutely nervous, "wanted you here. I did bribe him with some of those delicious cookies Yael has made recently and I imagine it might be how he persuaded you all to come this way. So I'll go and Yael can lead you to where you'll be at least for the new few minutes. We're not asking you to spend the night, but this is an important event in our lives, especially in Yael's."

With that said, Quentin disappeared back to the kitchen and all eyes turned to Yael. His eyes grew two sizes, the jitters of his first time ever in front of an audience robbing him of most of his thoughts. He stared blankly, his eyes unfocussed and Eoghan was the one to step forward, settle a gentle arm over Yael's shoulders with a chuckle. "Just tell me where we're going and we'll go there, yes?"

Yael licked his lips to moisten them. When he managed words, they were so soft he barely heard them slip from his own mouth. "Family room, if you'd all please."

Eoghan nodded, turning the wide-eyed demon around and he led him, and the rest of their group into the family room. Once there, his eyes fell on the painting and he released Yael who stepped to the side and went right back on to wringing his hands together. He watched as eyes widened and mouths opened slightly to gaping position. This was a good start, he didn't see anything negative in anyone's reaction, he felt already somewhat better, he felt less completely stressed out.

"Ah, I see you've all discovered why we asked you to come about." Quentin's voice broke through the silence as he weaved his way into the room itself, a tray of cookies in hand that he set down on the table in the middle of the room. He moved to settle at Yael's side, slipping his arm along that slender waist.

"Yael, this is beautiful, I have no words." Eoghan was the first to find his voice. He stepped closer, studying the details put into the painting itself. It was amazing. It was almost as though he was looking in a mirror.

The twins finally stepped closer themselves but Yael caught Cyrille's gaze more than he did the twins's own. He was confused, as if he didn't understand how he'd made it into that painting himself. He looked to Yael a moment, his eyes wide, confusion absolutely clear as day before he looked back to the painting.

"I've been working on this painting since I've met Quentin, just about. On and off, I'd paint it, change it, modify it. Then, Eoghan came into our lives, I sketched him into it. Alexis was added, then the twins and Zora, though when she left I didn't feel comfortable leaving her in the painting. Armin and finally though certainly not the least of addition, I've added you, Cyrille. You're as much part of this family as everyone else. You've done so much for everyone in your own way, I don't think we'd quite by the same without you. You deserve to be in this painting as much as everyone else."

He paused, finding smiles all around as they looked at him. Courage settled into his bones then and he smiled, looking to his completed painting. "I was terrified some of you might not like it. This is the first time I've had so many people looking at my art and it is such a personal piece that I was terrified of what might come of it. Now I know that it was worth every second I've poured into it. Every shower I've had to take because somehow with this painting more than any others I ended up covered in paint from head to toe. It was worth everything."

A group hug would have been symbolic then but perhaps it was asking for too much. Yael did find himself on the receiving end of several hugs by his friends, it was all he needed, they appreciated the work he had put in the painting and that was that.

"Before anyone goes anywhere, I'd like to offer that we do our shared meal this week here. There's something special I'd like to do myself and I'd feel better if it was done here, if that's all right with everyone." Quentin looked around at the group, little nods coming from all parties though there was curiosity in their gazes one more. A curiosity he found in Yael's gaze as well and that was the plan.


	31. Being Bold

They had all been more than a little curious as they had left after the viewing of the painting. Everyone snagging a cookie or two before they went on their way. Yael had waved them off, leaning lightly against Quentin as he did. He looked exhausted and Quentin knew it wasn't all that surprising. This had been a lot of stress for a single young man to go through, after all.

"Why don't we get some rest? Tomorrow is going to be a big day, all the setting up and preparing. We have to decide what we're preparing for that meal. It's been some time since we've last cooked for so many people." Yael still was leaning slightly against him at that point though once the door closed and the last of their guest was one, he turned to his companion, one brow quirked slightly. "What are you preparing?"

"That's a surprise, love, please humour me and go with me on it all? Just think of it as having everyone over, it's been forever and I feel like preparing food for everyone, something simple but delicious."

"Hot pot?"

"The one with the meat and veggies and at times tofu where everyone cooks their food themselves in the broth? Rice and salads on the side?"

Yael nodded, rubbing his eyes as he started to walk away from the door. He felt absolutely exhausted at this point and he knew that sleep would do him some good.

"That is actually a wonderful idea, we've never done that before, not even with Eoghan and his trips around the world, we'll just need to get at least two pots but that's something I can do tomorrow. I can get some beef, some shrimp and veggies. I'll look online to find more information and I'll do all that shopping. On Friday afternoon we can start slicing and dicing stuff, sounds good?"

"Sounds good."

  


So that was it there. They had sliced and diced, prepared plates, put them back in the fridge to keep certain four-legged fur balls from getting into the plates, they had prepared enough sauces they knew they'd have more leftovers than they knew what to do with it all. They had set up the table, prepared the broths (conveniently they used the broth Quentin had been preparing when Yael had finished his painting two days back), set everything up.

By the time their guests started arriving, the broths were beginning to bubble. Seats were taken at the table, plates handed out and, for this particular occasion, an occasion no one but Quentin understood the significance of yet, they even had wine. Even the twins were handed slight cups. Mira scrunched his nose at his own and was offered a glass of water instead.

The meal was eaten, the air filled with chatter and discussion about everything and nothing of importance, as usually was the case for their shared suppers. Several times over the course of the meal, Quentin left the table, looking into the fridge, as if to check to make sure that whatever he was worried about still was where it was meant to be.

Once the meal was done, he shooed everyone to the family room where the new painting had been hung onto the wall. Eoghan stayed behind along with Mira to help put things away, to help clear up the table. Once the table was clear, it was Eoghan's turn to gently shoo Mira off to join the other, telling him they would be joining the lot of them shortly.

Finally alone with Quentin, Eoghan tilted his head somewhat to the side, a curious note escaping him. He looked down to the very nervous looking Quentin and set his hands on those shoulders. Quentin stopped his almost pacing and looked up, his eyes wide. There was a tiny hint of fear in them but Eoghan refrained from digging into the other's mind.

"How about you tell me what this is all about?" He kept his voice low, knowing it wouldn't carry over the talking being done in the family room.

Quentin licked his lips to moisten them as best as he could. He swallowed around a lump in his throat. Instead of answering, he opened the fridge and brought out a beautiful cake, already sliced in eight portions. Along with the cake he brought out a bottle of champagne.

Eoghan looked at both items, still confused and Quentin stepped closer. He moved to stand on the tip of his toes and once his lips were as close as he could manage to his friend's ear, he whispered something. As he leaned back, Eoghan's eyes widened. "Really?"

Breathing in deeply, Quentin nodded. He rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his shoulders. "I think this is the single boldest thing I'll ever do in my life and I just want it to be right."

Eoghan chuckled, patting Quentin on the shoulder gently. "Here, let's just set the cake, along with the plates, the flutes, the forks and the champagne on this tray, we bring everything down to the family room. You do your thing and we pop open the champagne, sounds good?"

Again, Quentin licked his lips to try to get some moisture to them. He patted his pockets and nodded. "Okay."

Eoghan smiled down to him once more and gathered everything onto the tray. Quentin walked to the family room, Eoghan nearly at his heels. The tray was set down and Quentin cleared his throat gently. Silence settled over their guests.

"Yael, could you come here, please?" Eoghan stepped to stand next to Lex, leaning comfortably against him. Yael moved away from the window and stepped closer. Once he was close enough, Quentin took Yael's hand in his and eased down to one knee. Eoghan hid his grin as best as he could and the rest of their company stood, eyes just a little wide. Yael's eyes were widest of them all.

"Yael, some people would think I'm crazy. A lot of people think I'm an asshole, I can't stand most humans. When you entered my life, you changed me. You made me a better person, you helped me learn patience. I know our relationship hasn't been an overly long one but every day, as I wake up, I tell myself that I couldn't spend my life with anyone else. You're all I want in life."

He paused them, looking up to those icy-blue eyes, a film of tears covering them. "I don't even know if we can make this work here but I don't really care. I'm honestly doing this so you know how much you mean to me, so you know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you and that if you ever decided to move on, I think- no, I know I wouldn't be able to let you go."

As he offered those last few words, he clicked open the box he had been keeping in his pocket all meal long. It was a slim sort of box, black and velvety. Inside, a ring. It wasn't overly fancy, it was a simple band with a long stone embedded into it. Inside, a few words engraved in a language long lost.

"Will you be mine until the very end of times?" The room was silent, eyes wide from all parties, even Eoghan who looked on, breath held as a single tear ran down Yael's cheek. His lips pulled into a smile and he nodded. His other hand was in front of his mouth, as if unable to really believe what was going on, it didn't seem as if it could be real, not at all.

Relief flooded him at that nod and Quentin slipped that simple, but oh so beautiful ring onto Yael's finger. The fit was perfect.

He eased to his feet, Yael nearly throwing himself at Quentin and they hugged. Applause rose from their mock-crowd.

"This is so very wonderful, I'm almost jealous that Yael is the first one of us to get a ring." He shot a glance to Lex who looked to Quentin and Yael in turn, the laughed and Eoghan blinked. "You guys are going to have to tell me what's so funny. Later though, much later, for now, cake and champagne!"

He reached for the bottle, popping the cork and managing, surprisingly, to not get champagne foam everywhere. He filled in glasses while Lex took a moment to place the cake to the plates. He stepped to Eoghan however, a soft chuckle escaping him. "Thing is, I thought about putting a ring on that finger of yours, last Christmas. It's what all that jewellery was meant for, I didn't think we were ready for the ring itself."

Eoghan looked up to him, his eyes widening again though he laughed in turn, handing out flutes as Lex handed out cake plates. This was a day that was meant to be celebrated to the very end and back.


End file.
